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ANC21LA002

2020-10-20 · Anchorage, Alaska, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport PABV

Current FAA registration · N850WB

Make / Model
CESSNA 185E
Year of manufacture
1968 · 52 years old at event
Engine
CONT MOTOR IO-520-D (300 hp)
Seats / Engines
6 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
20070619
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S ABA94E

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot receiving instruction’s failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll, which resulted in a runway excursion onto soft terrain. Contributing to the accident was the flight instructor's inadequate supervision of the pilot while landing.

Factual narrative

The pilot receiving instruction reported that he and the flight instructor were practicing takeoffs and landings in his airplane. On the second landing, during the landing roll, the airplane veered to the right and exited the runway onto soft terrain, and the airplane then spun abruptly to the right. The left wing and left elevator struck the ground, which resulted in substantial damage to the left wing, left aileron, left horizontal stabilizer, and left elevator. The pilot receiving instruction reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation and that the accident might have been prevented if he had reacted more quickly and prevented the airplane from departing the runway. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • — Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Student/instructed pilot
  • — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained
  • — Personnel issues-Psychological-Attention/monitoring-Monitoring other person-Instructor/check pilot
  • — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Terrain-(general)-Effect on operation

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2020_ANC21LA002.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (icing, runway excursion). All research papers