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Atlas / NTSB / SEA06CA156

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event SEA06CA156

2006-08-02 Elk City, Idaho, United States Airport · 1U1 None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N3239D

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

CESSNA 180

Year of manufacture

1955 · 51 years old at event

Engine

CONT MOTOR O-470 SERIES (230 hp)

Seats / Engines

4 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

19570705

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A37D0C

Registrant of record

JAJ FLYING LLC

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control, which resulted in a ground loop during the landing roll.

Factual narrative

On August 2, 2006, about 0720 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 180, N3239D, sustained substantial damage when it ground looped during landing at Moose Creek USFS Airport, Elk City, Idaho. The private pilot and the two passengers were not injured. The airplane was registered to a private individual and operated by the pilot. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight and no flight plan was filed. The flight departed from a private airstrip in Sandpoint, Idaho about 0600. According to the pilot, he landed to the north on the 4,100-foot-long turf airstrip and had slowed the airplane to about 25 mph when it "went to the right of centerline." He attempted to regain directional control by using left rudder and brake, but was unable to prevent the airplane from ground looping. The pilot commented that he "should have been faster on the rudder pedals to not let it get away." An FAA inspector examined the airplane and reported that the left wing sustained structural damage. According to the pilot, he landed to the north on the 4,100-foot-long turf airstrip and had slowed the airplane to about 25 mph when it "went to the right of centerline." He attempted to regain directional control by using left rudder and brake, but was unable to prevent the airplane from ground looping. The pilot commented that he "should have been faster on the rudder pedals to not let it get away." Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2006_SEA06CA156.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 ↗