Black Canyon Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Black Canyon, Arizona 85324
Saturday, February 4, 2006 12:30 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane's nose gear was broken off during landing at a dirt strip. The airstrip sits on a mesa with a 100-foot drop-off on the approach end. The pilot said he encountered a severe downdraft at low altitude over the runway threshold followed by the nose landing gear hitting a pothole at touchdown. The resulting overload caused the nose landing gear to separate. A post impact fire ensued and the airplane was destroyed.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's encounter with downdraft at low altitude on short final approach to land.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 2/4/2006
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1230
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Black Canyon
Event State ARIZONA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 85324
Event Date Year 2006
Event Date Month 2
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 340900N
Event Location Longitude 1114300W
Event Location Airport Black Canyon
Event Location Nearest Airport ID NONE
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
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 --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 20
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Light and Variable
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency --
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 19671
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record May 30 2006 1:54PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N5421B
NTSB Number LAX06CA102
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire Ground
Aircraft Explosion --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 182
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 33421
Certified Max Gross Weight 2550
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
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 Sep 1 2005 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 70
Airframe Hours 4391
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Gregory M. & Karen P. Chapman
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Flagstaff
Aircraft Owner State AZ
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Gregory M. Chapman
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Flagstaff
Operator State AZ
Operator Country USA
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 No
Departure Airport Code P52
Departure City Cottonwood
Departure State AZ
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Black Canyon
Destination State AZ
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Mar 10 2006 2:29PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 31
Runway Length 1290
Runway Width 25
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --