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Atlas / NTSB / LAX02LA194

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event LAX02LA194

2002-06-06 SEDONA, Arizona, United States Airport · SEZ None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N94986

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

CESSNA 182Q

Year of manufacture

1978 · 24 years old at event

Engine

CONT MOTOR O-470 SERIES (230 hp)

Seats / Engines

4 seats · 1 engine

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S AD3226

Registrant of record

UNITED STATES AIR FORCE (OWNER)

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's inadequate recovery from a bounced landing.

Factual narrative

On June 6, 2002, about 1200 mountain standard time, a Cessna 182Q, N94986, made a hard landing at Sedona, Arizona. The Civil Air Patrol (CAP) was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The private pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured; the airplane sustained substantial damage. The personal local flight departed Sedona about 1120. Day visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. The pilot stated he landed on runway 03. Just as he began to flare, he experienced a rapid descent to the ground. The airplane hit hard and bounced. The pilot added power on the second bounce and initiated a go-around. The pilot thought the airplane continued in the porpoise event for one more bounce before the airplane became airborne. During the landing roll, the nose began to vibrate and the vibration worsened as he slowed down. Post landing inspection revealed that the nose wheel was flat and the fuselage and firewall were rippled. Just as the pilot began to flare, he experienced a rapid descent to the ground, which resulted in a hard landing. The airplane bounced; the pilot added power on the second bounce and initiated a go-around. The airplane porpoised and contacted the ground one more time before becoming airborne. During the landing roll, the nose began to vibrate and the vibration worsened as he slowed down. Post landing inspection revealed that the nose wheel was flat and the fuselage and firewall were rippled. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2002_LAX02LA194.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Related research

What the literature says.

Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (go-around). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.

Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗