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Atlas / NTSB / SEA05CA033

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event SEA05CA033

2005-01-10 Billings, Montana, United States Airport · BIL None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N8609X

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

CESSNA 180D

Engine

CONT MOTOR O-470-L (230 hp)

Seats / Engines

4 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

19610426

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S ABD280

Registrant of record

WILSON J BRENT TRUSTEE

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's improper flare and his failure to maintain aircraft control. The pilot's improper recovery from a bounced landing is a contributing factor.

Factual narrative

On January 10, 2005, about 1140 mountain standard time, a Cessna 180, N8609X, sustained substantial damage subsequent to a nose over while landing at the Billings Logan International Airport, Billings, Montana. The airplane is owned by the pilot, and was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) personal flight under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The private pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the cross-country flight. The flight originated from Dayton, Wyoming, at approximately 1045. In a written statement, the pilot reported that after touching down, the airplane bounced then settled back to the ground, but the left wing was "somewhat elevated." The pilot further reported that as the airplane rolled forward, the left wing became even more elevated and he wasn't able to lower it, resulting in the right wing striking the ground. The pilot stated that the airplane's forward momentum resulted in the airplane to nose over, coming to rest on its back just left of the runway centerline. After touching down and bouncing once, the airplane's left wing became elevated, resulting in the right wing striking the runway. The airplane subsequently nosed over and came to rest just left of the runway centerline. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2005_SEA05CA033.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. 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 ↗