The pilot of the Cessna 206 was approaching to land on a private unimproved runway near Sabinal, Texas. The field immediately adjacent to the landing area had been recently plowed.
He was landing into the direction of the rising sun, which was just coming over the horizon as he was making his approach. He mistakenly identified a plowed portion of the field for the intended landing area and proceeded to land on it.
As he touched down, he noticed the landing area was softer than it should have been, so he kept the nose wheel off the ground as long as he could.
The nosewheel finally set down in the soft dirt and dug in, resulting in the airplane flipping over on its back. Both of the airplane’s wings, vertical stabilizer, and rudder received substantial damage.
The NTSB determined the probable cause was the pilot’s failure to properly identify the airstrip, which resulted in him landing in soft soil, causing the nose over.
NTSB Identification: CEN13CA206
This February 2013 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
It looks like two factors were at play in this accident. Communication was imperfect, and the pilot decided to forego a final pre-landing check of his intended off-airport runway. The first link i the accident chain occurred the day prior when (according to the docket) the land owner and pilot had an email conversation. During the conversation the land owner didn’t mention he had just plowed the field immediately adjacent to where the accident occurred and the pilot, who had previously landed there, failed to ask for confirmation that the field was still suitable for the landing. The second link was the pilot’s failure to overfly the field of intended landing to confirm the actual landing site, and to confirm it was suitable. Descending into the sun made it unlikely he would or could detect the freshly plowed soil where he intended to land. A good lesson for all.
I agree, pilots should always verify the condition of their destination airport. However, in this situation, it wouldn’t make a difference. The field was functional, the pilot just didn’t land at it.
A third link might also include planning an arrival time requiring landing into the rising sun.