Lexington Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Lexington, Oregon 97839
Wednesday, June 25, 2003 18:00 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

According to the pilot, after performing two or three touch-and-go landings, he departed the airport to practice aerial proficiency maneuvers. Upon his return, he made a wheel landing, and although the touchdown and the initial part of the landing roll were uneventful, just as he was starting to lower the tail the aircraft started pulling to the left. He therefore attempted to realign the aircraft with the runway by using right rudder and additional breaking on the right wheel but, according to the pilot, he overcorrected and inadvertently redirected the aircraft toward the right side of the runway. As he continued trying to get the aircraft aligned with the runway, it departed the right side of the landing surface. As the right main gear departed the runway, it encountered soft terrain, and the aircraft spun quickly around to the right. During this sequence of events, the left wing and horizontal stabilizer contacted the surface of the ground. The pilot later stated that he thought he may have had a partially deflated or flat tire on the left main landing gear.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control during the landing roll. A partially deflated tire and soft terrain were factors.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/25/2003
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1800
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Lexington
Event State OREGON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 97839
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 452727N
Event Location Longitude 1194125W
Event Location Airport Lexington
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 9S9
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 1634
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 31
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Light and Variable
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 15581
NTSB Notification Source FAA Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date Jun 26 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1350
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jun 3 2004 1:28PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Hillsboro FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N6497E
NTSB Number SEA03LA122
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 185F
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 18504050
Certified Max Gross Weight 3300
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection May 5 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 20
Airframe Hours 4292
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Guy E. Vanarsdale
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Lexington
Aircraft Owner State OR
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 97839
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City --
Operator State --
Operator Country --
Operator Zip code --
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code 9S9
Departure City Lexington
Departure State OR
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1745
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code 9S9
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - roll
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Mar 25 2004 2:51PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 26
Runway Length 4150
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --