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Atlas / NTSB / FTW90DRD06

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event FTW90DRD06

1990-04-18 ALEXANDRIA, Louisiana, United States Airport · ESF Serious 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N63BD

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

CESSNA TR182

Year of manufacture

1979 · 11 years old at event

Engine

LYCOMING 0-540 SERIES (250 hp)

Seats / Engines

4 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

19790424

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A83B80

Registrant of record

CAMPBELL JOSEPH H

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT MISJUDGED THE LANDING FLARE.

Factual narrative

THE PILOT WAS DISSIPATING AIRSPEED OVER THE RUNWAY, IN THE OPEN COCKPIT BIPLANE. HE SAID HIS HELMET SLIPPED BACK ON HIS HEAD AND DURING HIS ATTEMPT TO READJUST IT, THE LEFT WING CAME UP AND DURING HIS CORRECTION, THE PROPELLER STARTED HITTING THE RUNWAY. HE SHUT OFF THE ENGINE, FLEW FURTHER DOWN THE RUNWAY AND LANDED. HE SAID HIS NEXT TOUCHDOWN WAS SMOOTH BUT THE MAIN GEAR COLLAPSED, AND THE BOTTOM OF THE FUSELAGE STARTED SLIDDING ON THE RUNWAY. A FIRE STARTED AND AS THE PILOT EVACUATED THE AIRPLANE, HE WAS BURNED ON THE FACE AND HANDS. AFTER HE MOVED AWAY FROM THE AIRPLANE, MORE FIRE ERUPTED IN THE AIRPLANE. LATER INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT THE MAIN LANDING GEAR SPREAD OUT AND THE FUSELAGE BOTTOM HIT THE RUNWAY ON THE FIRST IMPACT. FIRE STARTED WITH FUEL FROM A BROKEN FUEL STRAINER VALVE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_FTW90DRD06.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.