N3386D

On July 28, 2000, at 0910 hours Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 180, N3386D, was substantially damaged during a hard landing at North Las Vegas, Nevada. The commercial pilot and one passenger were not injured. The personal flight departed from the French Valley airport at Murrieta/Temecula, California at 0715. The flight was operated by the owner under 14 CFR Part 91, and no flight plan was filed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and included light and variable winds and a 5,000-foot density altitude.

The pilot reported that he encountered wind shear and developed a high sink rate during an otherwise normal landing approach to runway 7. A bounced landing resulted and, during the attempt to recover from the bounce, the aircraft bounced again and veered to the right off the runway. The right-hand main landing gear separated and the aircraft came to rest off the runway.

An inspector from the Federal Aviation Administration Las Vegas Flight Standards District Office reported that tire marks on the runway indicated that the aircraft first landed about 1,600 feet from the approach end of runway 7, and then veered off the runway to the southeast about 200 feet further down the runway. Marks in the dirt indicated that the airplane then paralleled the runway for about 500 feet before becoming airborne again. The airplane finally came to rest about 250 feet further east on a southerly heading.