HANKSVILLE, UT, USA
N2722Q
Cessna 182K
The pilot said the winds were gusting 5 to 15 knots as he made his approach to an abandoned air strip. Just before the airplane touched down, he encountered a downdraft that forced the airplane to the ground. It began to porpoise, and he added power to abort the landing. The airplane lifted off but was trimmed for landing. The pilot said he could not move fast enough to reset the trim and flaps. The airplane rolled to the left and a wind gust rolled it further. The airplane stalled about 50 feet above the ground and hit on its left wing and cartwheeled.
On March 25, 2000, approximately 1515 mountain standard time, a Cessna 182K, N2722Q, registered to and operated by the pilot, was destroyed during a balked landing at an abandoned air strip near Hanksville, Utah. The private pilot was seriously injured, and a passenger sustained minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for the personal flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight originated from Bullfrog Basin Airport, Lake Powell, Utah, approximately 1445. In an telephone conversation, the pilot of N2722Q said he belonged to an organization called the "Utah Back Country Pilots Association." His airplane was one of three that had departed Bountiful, Utah, earlier that morning, and had flown to Lake Powell's Bullfrog Basin Airport. The pilots later decided to fly to a nearby abandoned airstrip about 29 miles southeast of Hanksville. The airstrip is on land owned by the Bureau of Land Management, and is located at a position of 38 degrees, 09.425 minutes north latitude, and 110 degrees, 17.378 minutes west longitude. The first two airplanes landed successfully. In his accident report, the pilot said the winds were gusting 5 to 15 knots. Just before his airplane touched down, he encountered a "[down] draft" that forced the airplane into the ground. "It hit so hard," he wrote, "that it started to porpoise and I had to get out before it porpoised again." He added power and the airplane lifted off, "but being trimmed and set up for landing on a short dirt field, I could [not] move fast enough to reset the trim and flaps. The airplane lift ceased and [the airplane] rolled to the left and the gusting wind caught it and rolled it over further. The airplane stalled about 50 feet above the ground and hit on its left wing and cartwheeled once."
The pilot inadvertently allowing the airplane to porpoise after landing hard, and inadvertently stalling the airplane after aborting the landing attempt. Factors were wind gusts, and the pilot failing to reconfigure the airplane (resetting the elevator trim and raising the flaps).
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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