N4900A

On September 29, 1997, at 1800 Alaska daylight time, a tundra tire equipped, Cessna 180 airplane, N4900A, sustained substantial damage when it nosed over on a landing strip at the Kejulik River Lodge, fifty-seven miles southeast of King Salmon, Alaska, at position 57-51 degrees north latitude, 155-48 degrees west longitude. The commercial certificated pilot and the one passenger were uninjured. The airplane was in support of a hunting and fishing lodge. The flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91, as a local flight from the Kejulik River Lodge to check on hunting clients. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and a company VFR flight plan was filed.

The pilot reported that during the landing roll at his 900 feet long, by 20 feet wide, private airstrip, the airplane began to drift right. The pilot stated that as airspeed decreased, he applied full left rudder and brake. The right drift became uncontrollable, and the airplane departed the right side of the airstrip. The left main landing gear subsequently failed, and the airplane nosed over.

Postaccident inspection revealed that the right main landing gear was canted ten degrees outboard, and there were popped rivets surrounding the right gear leg. The mechanic who repaired the airplane stated that the rivets which had been used to hold the gear structure in place were "Cherry Max" rivets, instead of the required solid rivets.

The landing strip from which the airplane had last departed was described by the pilot as rough and rocky.