Primary finding
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain directional control of the airplane during the landing roll. Factors were the pilot misjudged the wind information, and the unfavorable wind.
Investigator assessment
Analysis narrative
The pilot reported that the winds were too strong and unstable for a safe downwind turn, so he reduced the engine power and landed the airplane. During the landing roll the pilot lost directional control and the airplane ground looped. The pilot said he knew before the attempted landing that the winds were very unstable, and that he had misjudged the gusty crosswind.
Source record
Factual narrative
On September 20, 1993, at 2130 Alaska daylight time, the pilot of a wheel equipped Cessna 180 airplane, N4563B, lost control and ground looped the airplane during an off airport landing at Pumice Creek, located approximately 100 miles southeast of King Salmon, Alaska. The private pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured, and the airplane was substantially damaged. The personal local flight, operating under 14 CFR Part 91, departed from another nearby remote site about 30 minutes earlier. Visual meteorological conditions existed, and a company flight plan was filed. Shortly after the accident during a telephone conversation, the pilot stated the following, in part: "I was trying to make an off airport landing in a mountain valley know as "100 mile an hour valley." I misjudged the gusy crosswind during my landing, which I made into the prevailing wind. After touchdown I decided to abort the landing because of the rough unstable air. After I got airborne again, I found the air was too unstable for a downwind turn so I cut the engine power and set back down on the strip. While trying to stop the airplane, the gusty crosswind caused the airplane to ground loop." The pilot described substantial damage done to the airplane during the accident. -