NTSB CAROL · Event
Event WPR10TA213
Registry · N6045C
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
CESSNA T206H
Year of manufacture
2006 · 4 years old at event
Engine
LYCOMING TIO-540-AJ1A (310 hp)
Seats / Engines
6 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
20060802
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A7D925
Registrant of record
ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT RNSP
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot’s inadequate compensation for the wind conditions during the landing flare and failure to maintain directional control on the ground.
Factual narrative
On April 19, 2010, about 1600 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna T206H, N6045C, had the nose gear collapse during a runway excursion at Fullerton Municipal Airport, Fullerton, California. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. The certificated commercial pilot and one passenger were not injured; the airplane sustained substantial damage to the firewall by impact forces. The local public-use flight departed Fullerton about 1240. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. The pilot was landing on runway 24; the air traffic control tower (ATCT) reported that the winds were 220 degrees at 6 knots. The pilot reported that he encountered light to moderate turbulence during the approach. The airspeed was 69 knots as the airplane crossed over the airport fence on short final. As he began to level off over the runway, he encountered wind shear. The airplane rose rapidly, and then fell abruptly. The left main wheel hit hard on the runway. The pilot stated that a left crosswind picked up the left wing, and the airplane veered to the left. He corrected with left aileron and right rudder, but was unable to prevent the airplane from skidding off the left side of the runway and into the dirt. The left main landing gear struck a taxiway/runway sign. The nose gear collapsed, and the propeller contacted the ground. The pilot stated that the ATCT informed him that his left brake may have locked up. He indicated that he did not apply any left brake during the landing, and was unsure if the brake malfunctioned after the hard impact on the runway. Two Federal Aviation Administration inspectors stated that during a post accident examination they did not see any evidence of the left brake locking up. They provided a picture of two parallel skid marks of similar size that led off the runway into the dirt. The pilot encountered light to moderate turbulence during the approach. The airspeed was 69 knots as the airplane crossed over the airport fence on short final. As the pilot began to level off over the runway, he encountered wind shear. The airplane rose rapidly and then fell abruptly. The left main wheel hit hard on the runway. A left crosswind picked up the left wing, and the airplane veered to the left. The pilot corrected with left aileron and right rudder, but was unable to prevent the airplane from skidding off the left side of the runway. It went into the dirt, and the nose gear collapsed. The airframe sustained substantial damage to the firewall. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12
NTSB Findings
Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).
- C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Crosswind correction-Incorrect use/operation - C
- — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Landing flare-Incorrect use/operation
- C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained - C
- C Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Windshear-Response/compensation - C
- C Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Crosswind-Response/compensation - C
- C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2010_WPR10TA213.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (wind shear, runway excursion, turbulence). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Contractor Report (CR)
An Examination of Aviation Accidents Associated with Turbulence, Wind Shear and Thunderstorm
The focal point of the study reported here was the definition and examination of turbulence, wind shear and thunderstorm in relation to aviation accidents.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Convectively Induced Turbulence Encountered During NASA's Fall-2000 Flight Experiments
Aircraft encounters with atmospheric turbulence are a leading cause of in-flight injuries aboard commercial airliners and cost the airlines millions of dollars each year.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Technical Memorandum (TM)
Some aspects of wind shear in the upper atmosphere
Hydrodynamic turbulence and wind shear in upper atmosphere
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2019 · Journal article (IJAAA)
Low Level Turbulence Detection For Airports
Abstract—— Low level wind shear and turbulence present a serious safety risk to aircraft during the approach, landing and take-off phases.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2018 · Journal article (IJAAA)
Evaluating the Effect of Turbulence on Aircraft During Landing and Take-Off Phases
—— Low level wind shear and turbulence present a serious safety risk to aircraft during the approach, landing and take-off phases.
- arXiv 2026 · arXiv preprint
Direct Numerical Simulations of Ice-Ocean Boundary Turbulence
Turbulent heat and freshwater transport at ice-ocean interfaces controls glacier and iceberg melt rates, yet the underlying physics remains poorly constrained.
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗