Big Creek Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Big Creek, Idaho 83677
Saturday, July 26, 2008 14:30 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot made a landing approach to a remote mountain turf runway. The airplane encountered a downdraft while on short final, which resulted in a sudden drop from about 15 feet, and subsequent hard landing. The landing bent the nose gear forward and damaged the firewall. The pilot made a field repair to hold the nose wheel in place by lashing the nose wheel strut back using rope and a come-along attached to the main landing gear. The pilot then proceeded to fly the airplane to an airport about 30 minutes away, where a mechanic assessed the damage and advised the pilot not to continue the flight. The pilot decided to continue the flight to his home base approximately 454 miles to the southwest. The elevation of the accident airport is 5,720 feet mean sea level (msl). The outside air temperature at the time of the accident was 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The calculated density altitude was 8,238 feet msl at the accident airport.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The airplane encountered a downdraft during the landing flare. Contributing to the accident was the high density altitude.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/26/2008
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1430
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Big Creek
Event State IDAHO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 83677
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 450759N
Event Location Longitude 1151919W
Event Location Airport Big Creek Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID KU60
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 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) 80
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 260
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 15
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency --
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 24265
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 Sep 26 2008 6:40PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N92767
NTSB Number LAX08CA250
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 --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 182N
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 18260346
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 --
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed --
ELT Activated --
ELT Aided Location of Event Site --
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Kevin E Quinn
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Cordova
Aircraft Owner State AK
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
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 --
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code KMYL
Departure City McCall
Departure State ID
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code KU60
Destination City Big Creek
Destination State ID
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Sep 5 2008 4:32PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 19
Runway Length 3700
Runway Width 60
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --