Event LAX98LA060

Factual narrative

On December 13, 1997, at 1200 hours Pacific standard time, the pilot of a Cessna 180H, N123LJ, made a hard landing and veered off runway 08 at the Santa Ynez, California, airport. The aircraft sustained substantial damage. The owner/pilot and a pilot-rated passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions existed for the personal flight that originated from the Van Nuys, California, airport at 1100. An official of the airport, who was a witness to the accident, reported that the pilot made left traffic for runway 08, which has a published right-hand traffic pattern due to noise abatement procedures. The witness observed the winds to be from approximately 130 degrees gusting to approximately 30-35 knots. The pilot stated to the witness that he made repeated attempts to contact UNICOM for airport advisories, but was unable to receive a response. It was reported to the witness that the person who was monitoring UNICOM received the pilot's transmissions and made repeated attempts to provide airport advisories to the pilot. A Cessna 210 was in the pattern for landing behind the accident aircraft and heard the repeated attempts by the pilot to contact UNICOM, and UNICOM's subsequent attempts to respond to the pilot. According to the witness, the pilot of the Cessna 210 elected not to land at the airport due to the airport advisories that UNICOM had broadcast. After the accident, the pilot reported to the witness that he would not have attempted to land at the airport had he been able to receive airport advisories from UNICOM. The pilot reported that the flight from Van Nuys to Santa Ynez was uneventful. He overflew the airport and checked the windsock, noting that the winds were at a direct 90-degree angle from the runway, and gusting to approximately 35 knots. The pilot reported that upon touchdown he landed hard and was unable to compensate with opposite rudder for the adverse crosswind condition. He further reported that there were no mechanical difficulties with the accident aircraft encountered prior to the landing. Before landing the pilot overflew the airport and checked the windsock. He noted that the winds were at a direct 90-degree angle from the runway and gusting to approximately 35 knots. The pilot made repeated attempts to contact UNICOM, but did not receive a response. The airplane touched down hard and veered off runway 08. A pilot in the pattern behind the accident aircraft reported to a witness that he had heard the accident pilot attempting to contact UNICOM, and UNICOM's subsequent responses. The witness reported that the pilot made left-hand traffic for the runway, which has a published right-hand traffic pattern. The witness also reported that the winds were approximately 130 degrees gusting to about 35 knots. The person monitoring UNICOM reported to the witness that he did receive transmissions from the pilot and had reported airport advisories to him. After the accident the pilot reported to the witness that he would not have attempted to land at the airport had he been able to receive airport advisories from UNICOM. No mechanical difficulties were noted by the pilot. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12