N4825R

On July 7, 1998, at 1300 hours Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 182RG, N4825R, collided with a ditch while attempting to turn off runway 31 on the landing rollout at the Cameron, California, airport. The airplane, operated by the pilot under 14 CFR Part 91, sustained substantial damage. The commercial pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions existed for the personal flight and no flight plan was filed. The flight had departed from the Modesto, California, airport at 1220 the day of the accident.

The pilot stated that he made a short field landing with full flaps. After touchdown, he retracted the flaps to help with braking action. The pilot reported that he began his right turn to exit the runway at midfield and the speed of the aircraft, in combination with a wind gust, caused a loss of tire traction. The pilot stated that the radius of the right turn off the runway was too wide, and, due to the loss of traction, the airplane's left main landing gear went into a ditch. In the pilot's written statement he wrote that a continued rollout to obtain a slower speed after landing would be optimal before initiating a turn off the runway. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical difficulties noted with the airplane or powerplant.

The pilot reported the winds from 280 degrees at 3 knots gusting to 11 knots.