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Atlas / NTSB / LAX03LA046

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event LAX03LA046

2002-11-10 PACOIMA, California, United States Airport · WHP None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N735ZT

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

CESSNA 182Q

Year of manufacture

1977 · 25 years old at event

Engine

CONT MOTOR O-470 SERIES (230 hp)

Seats / Engines

4 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

19770627

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A9DFEF

Registrant of record

3D AIRCRAFT A CALIFORNIA CORP

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed, which resulted in an inadvertent stall/mush and hard landing. A factor in the accident was the gusty wind.

Factual narrative

On November 10, 2002, at 1639 Pacific standard time, a Cessna 182Q, N735ZT, made a hard landing at Whiteman Field, Pacoima, California. The 3D Aircraft Corporation was operating the rental 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 cross-country flight departed Palm Springs, California, about 1500, en route to Pacoima. Day visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. The pilot stated that the winds were high and there was a slight crosswind. He was on short final for runway 30 when the airplane dropped hard to the runway. There was not any visible damage to the airplane, but firewall damage was later discovered by a mechanic. At 1630, the Aviation Routine Weather Report (METAR) for Burbank Airport (BUR), located about 10 miles southeast of Whiteman Field, reported winds from 320 degrees at 14 knots, gusting to 19 knots. While on short final for runway 30, the airplane dropped hard onto the runway. Post accident inspection revealed firewall damage. Winds at the time were reported from 320 degrees at 14 knots, gusting to 19 knots. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2002_LAX03LA046.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 (stall). 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 ↗