N8290G

On August 2, 2002, at 1505 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 182P, N8290G, collided with terrain short of the runway while landing at the Del Orto private airstrip, Mokelumne Hill, California. The airplane was owned and operated by Sacramento Aero Services, Inc., under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91, and rented by the pilot for a personal flight. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The private pilot and one passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the cross-country flight that originated at Auburn, California, at 1427, and no flight plan had been filed.

The pilot reported that while making a left downwind approach for a short field landing, he had selected 20 degrees of flaps. Just short of the runway, the airplane sank about 10 feet, and "one second" later, the airplane impacted a dirt bank about 2 feet short of the north edge of the south runway. The main landing gear and the nose gear collapsed during the accident sequence and the airplane slid down the centerline of the runway coming to rest approximately 130 feet past the initial point of impact. No mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane were reported prior to the mishap. The 1,100-foot runway has a 5- to 7-percent upgrade to the south. Following the accident, the pilot stated that "more altitude on final, use of full flaps" could have prevented the accident.

The Cessna 182P pilot's operating handbook calls for a 40-degree-flap setting on short field and normal landings.