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NYC04CA114

2004-04-30 · Taunton, Massachusetts, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport TAN

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilots inadequate pre-flight planning which resulted in a landing on soft terrain and subsequent nose over. A factor was the soft terrain.

Factual narrative

On April 30, 2004, about 1200 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 305A, N2070E, was substantially damaged while landing at the Taunton Municipal Airport (TAN), Taunton, Massachusetts. The certificated private pilot received minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed for the personal flight conducted under 14 CFR part 91. The pilot was attempting to land on a grass area adjacent to runway 30, a 3500-foot-long, 75-foot-wide, asphalt runway. In a written statement, the pilot stated that upon touchdown on the grass, the landing gear sank into the soft ground and the airplane nosed over. Examination to the airplane revealed damage to the propeller and landing gear. The pilot stated that he did not check the condition of the grass area prior to landing. The pilot reported 3,050 hours of total flight experience, which included 450 hours in the same make and model of the accident airplane. Winds reported at Taunton, at 1152, were from 210 degrees at 11 knots. Upon touching down on a soft grass area adjacent to a runway, the landing gear sank into the ground and the airplane nosed over. The pilot stated that he did not check the condition of the grass area prior to landing. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2004_NYC04CA114.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.