The pilot and owner of the Cessna 182 told investigators that he checked the winds when he was more than 15 miles from the airport in East Ellijay, Georgia, and again while established on the downwind leg of the traffic pattern.
He said the Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS) reported the winds were from 020° at 9 knots “with no gusts” and that he was landing on Runway 3.
When over the runway threshold, the nose dropped “due to a decrease in headwind,” so he initiated a go-around. After applying “full” engine power and while configuring the airplane for the go-around, an “extreme perpendicular crosswind from the west blew the airplane into the path of trees lining the runway,” he reported.
The pilot pulled back on the yoke to clear the trees, the right wing stalled, and the airplane landed hard in a flat attitude, resulting in substantial damage and igniting a fire in the engine compartment.
Three of the four occupants got out of the airplane with minor injuries while one occupant emerged uninjured.
The pilot reported there were no preimpact anomalies or failures that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane.
Examination of the AWOS information reported at the airport 15 minutes before arrival revealed winds from 020° at 11 knots gusting to 19 knots. At the time of the accident, winds were reported to be from 040° at 12 knots gusting to 19 knots.
Probable Cause: The pilot’s inadequate compensation for winds during landing, which resulted in a loss of control and an aerodynamic stall.
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This October 2024 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.
Wish we knew if he had an Angle of Attack (AOA) Indicator installed, callibrated, and knew how to use it. It would have cued him sooner and helped him to stabilize his approach.
Only time I land my 182P with full flaps is calm wind or short fields. It’s always flaps 10 & a lot of trim.
I tried drawing this one on a bar napkin …but there’re too many details about the pilot’s actual ‘stick and rudder’ inputs missing to know exactly what happened.
“He said the automated weather observing system (AWOS) reported the winds were from 020° at 9 knots “with no gusts” and that he was landing on Runway 03.”
That doesn’t quite jive with the NTSB: “Examination of the AWOS information reported at the airport 15 minutes before arrival revealed winds from 020° at 11 knots gusting to 19 knots. At the time of the accident, winds were reported to be from 040° at 12 knots gusting to 19 knots.”
As already noted, since he’s landing on Rwy 03, he’s likely to encounter …at most …a headwind & crosswind component mix from either side of @19 knots & 3 knots (+/-), with a “gust factor” of 8 knots.
He makes it clear he was not aware of any gusts; there’s no indication that he observed what the windsock was doing. He “trimmed for 85 MPH” on final and never adjusted for the actual winds.
“After clearing the trees, I lowered the third set of flaps re-trimmed nose up.”
Waiting until you’re clear of the trees (i.e., fairly close to the ground?) …before you’re finally configured, probably doesn’t give you much time to get “stabilized”.
“Just before the runway numbers I sensed the nose dropping due to a decrease in headwind.”
He never added an additional 4 KIAS/5 MPH for the gusts: I would’ve. I wonder if he pulled it to idle over the threshold and wasn’t ready for the ‘extra’ nose-up back pressure needed …182s get fairly ‘nose heavy’ during the round out, level off, and flare.
“I was not confident that ground effect would stop the decent through the flare. I made a decision to go around as the approach to landing felt unstable.“
I never rely on ground effect to “stop the decent through the flare”? If you don’t actually descend …at least a little bit …during the flare …how do you ever touch down? Using full flaps on a 182 in gusty wind conditions aren’t going to make it feel more stable.
“After applying “full” engine power and while configuring the airplane for the go-around, an extreme perpendicular crosswind from the west blew the airplane into the path of trees lining the runway.“
I’m not sure about the theory that an “extreme perpendicular crosswind” blew him off to the right of the runway. So, how did he end up drifting to the right, and turning @ 135-degrees before impact?
“The slow airspeed prevented me from inputting effective yoke and rudder side to side corrections.”
Usually…”mismanaging” P-factor during a go-around means not using enough right rudder. In this scenario, if there really was an “extreme perpendicular crosswind”, he probably would have been better off not using any right rudder at all …initially …and let the airplane yaw left, with wings level, into the wind. It might have kept him from drifting to towards the trees.
“The pilot said he pulled back on the yoke to clear the trees, the right wing stalled, and the airplane landed hard in a flat attitude…”.
My bet: Based on the effort required to arrest the sink rate (nose drop) over the runway, he yanked it into a high drag, slow speed, low altitude ‘departure’ stall; at “full engine power”, it wanted to roll & yaw left. In response, I think he might have used too much right rudder, which helped him develop a vector towards the tree line. He probably tried to keep the bank angle ‘reasonable’ (my word), but with too much rudder, he stalled it (right wing) in a skidding right turn.
They were lucky to hit the ground fairly flat with the wings level. Fortunately, they weren’t high enough for the nose to pitch down significantly prior to impact.
Stevie Wonder could have landed a 182 with those conditions.
Only 10 degrees off runway heading, gusts or no gusts. Shouldn’t be a problem. But start a go around in a loaded 182 with those big Cessna flaps hanging out and you better be on your game.
Another ‘low time’ pilot stupid pilot trick…..no P-factor compensation….
Poor training leads to poor pilots.
1000% correct! These flight schools only fly with winds less than 10kts. How is one to learn. Most new pilots are clueless on crosswind technique and P factor technique. Evidence this Pilot had neither.