Canyonlands Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Moab, Utah 84532
Tuesady, February 26, 2008 14:00 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During one of a series of three-point landings in a tail wheel-equipped airplane, the airplane bounced and then veered to the right during the flare/touchdown phase of the landing sequence. The pilot was unable to keep it from going further to the right, and as it continued to veer to the right of the runway heading, the left main gear leg collapsed, resulting in damage to the fuselage structure. There were no malfunctions or anomalies in the airplane's flight control or tail wheel steering systems. The pilot said that he felt he needed more extensive training in the Cessna 180 and that he should not have attempted a three-point landing in that model airplane until he had completed that training.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control of the tail wheel-equipped airplane during the flare/touchdown phase of a three-point landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 2/26/2008
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1400
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Moab
Event State UTAH
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 84532
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 2
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 384518N
Event Location Longitude 1094517W
Event Location Airport Canyonlands Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID KCNY
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 4550
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 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) 10
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 320
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator --
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) 23544
NTSB Notification Source FAA Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date Feb 26 2008 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 30 2008 1:28PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Salt Lake FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N1732C
NTSB Number SEA08LA083
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 180
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 30432
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 Jun 1 2006 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 6083
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Thomas H. Keogh
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City La Sal
Aircraft Owner State UT
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 84530
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 KCNY
Departure City MOab
Departure State UT
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1300
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code KCNY
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - flare/touchdown
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Apr 22 2008 6:07PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 03
Runway Length 7100
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --