N6497E

On June 25, 2003, approximately 1800 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 185F, N6497E, impacted the terrain during the landing roll at Lexington Airport, Lexington, Oregon. The commercial pilot, who was the sole occupant, was not injured, but the aircraft, which is owned and operated by the pilot, sustained substantial damage. The 14 CFR Part 91 personal proficiency flight, which departed the same airport about 40 minutes earlier, was being operated in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan had been filed. There was no report of an ELT activation.

According to the pilot, after performing two or three touch-and-go landings, he departed the airport to practice aerial proficiency maneuvers. Upon his return, he made a wheel landing on runway 26, and although the touchdown and the initial part of the landing roll were uneventful, just as he was starting to lower the tail, the aircraft started pulling to the left. He therefore attempted to realign the aircraft with the runway by using right rudder and additional breaking on the right wheel but, according to the pilot, he overcorrected and inadvertently redirected the aircraft toward the right side of the runway. As he continued trying to get the aircraft aligned with the runway, it departed the right side of the landing surface. As the right main gear departed the runway, it encountered soft terrain, and the aircraft spun quickly around to the right. During this sequence of events, the left wing and horizontal stabilizer contacted the surface of the ground.

The pilot later stated that he thought he may have had a partially deflated or flat tire on the left main landing gear.