ASN Aircraft accident Cessna 208B Supervan 900 N7581F Baldwin Airport, WI
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Status:Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Date:Thursday 21 July 2016
Time:14:00
Type:Silhouette image of generic C208 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
Cessna 208B Supervan 900
Operator:Skydive Twin Cities
Registration: N7581F
MSN: 208B0389
First flight: 1994
Total airframe hrs:10660
Engines: 1 Honeywell TPE331-12JR
Crew:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Passengers:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 14
Total:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 15
Aircraft damage: Substantial
Aircraft fate: Repaired
Location:Baldwin Airport, WI (   United States of America)
Phase: Landing (LDG)
Nature:Parachuting
Departure airport:Baldwin Airport, WI, United States of America
Destination airport:Baldwin Airport, WI, United States of America
Narrative:
A Cessna 208B air drop configured airplane, N7581F, sustained substantial damage during a runway excursion after landing on runway 18 at the Baldwin Airport, Wisconsin. The commercial pilot and 14 passengers were not injured. No flight plan was filed and local traffic advisory was requested by the pilot. Visual meteorological conditions with light rain showers prevailed throughout the area. The flight originated from Baldwin Airport about 13:50.
According to the pilot, he had ferried the airplane from Forest Lake, Wisconsin, to Baldwin on the morning of the accident. The airplane had just completed its 100-hour inspection at Forest Lake. After flying three air drops without incident, he prepared for his fourth flight of the day. He stated that all of the previous 3 flights had successfully deployed the parachutists and were full stop landings in an empty airplane. Due to the temperatures of 90+ degrees and high humidity, the pilot requested his manifests limit to 14 parachutists and allow a longer time between shutdowns to allow for adequate cooling before the next flight.
The pilot reported that pop-up rain showers had been passing north and south of Baldwin throughout the morning, but never coming closer than 10-15 miles. While preparing for the fourth flight of the day (accident flight) the pilot discussed the weather with a experienced parachutist. Clouds were currently over the intended drop zone but there was no rain and the clouds were moving away from the northern edge of the drop zone. The pilot and parachutist agreed that it was worth attempting the drop considering the cloud movement away from the drop zone. The 14 parachutists were loaded and the airplane took off. Climbing through 3,000 feet MSL, the pilot checked in with ATC for traffic advisory and a radio check. Climbing through 4,000 feet, ATC advised the pilot that light to moderate precipitation was in the area. The pilot continued to climb toward the drop zone to see if there was any rain over the area and about 1-1.5 miles from the zone, light rain was encountered. The pilot advised the parachutists that they were returning to Baldwin to land because of the weather.
After descending, the pilot set up a base leg to runway 18, and about two miles from the airport, turned on final. The approach was a stabilized, powered-on approach which was much flatter than the standard descent with an empty airplane. The pilot used flaps incrementally to 30-degrees (full flaps), initiated a flare over the threshold, and touched down at 65 knots. Full reverse propeller was used and the flaps retracted during the landing rollout. When the pilot started to apply brakes he discovered that the braking action was null. The 1,950 foot-long grass runway was wet because of a recent rain shower. Because of the high temperature, humidity, full load, and trees at the end of the runway, the pilot decided to not attempt a go around. The pilot held full aft on the control yoke for aerodynamic braking, stayed in full propeller reverse, and braked as much as possible without locking the wheels up. Just before coming to a complete stop (about 5-10 mph), the airplane rolled into a ditch before a road beyond the departure end of the runway. The propeller struck the dirt and the tail, causing substantial damage to the empennage. The pilot secured the engine and all of the occupants exited the airplane.

Probable Cause:

PROBABLE CAUSE: "The pilot's decision to land the fully loaded parachutist drop airplane on a wet grass runway that had insufficient length for the landing in high temperature conditions, which resulted in a runway overrun, when a more suitable longer runway was available at a nearby airport."

Accident investigation:

cover
Investigating agency: NTSB
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 1 year and 2 months
Accident number: CEN16LA288
Download report: Summary report

Classification:
Runway excursion (overrun)

Sources:
» NTSB


Photos

photo of Cessna-208B-Grand-Caravan-N7581F
accident date: 21-07-2016
type: Cessna 208B Grand Caravan
registration: N7581F
 

Map

This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
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