N80GE – CESSNA 208B – 2012-08-18 NTSB Accident Report

On August 18, 2012, a Cessna 208B (N80GE) was involved in an incident near Raeford, NC. All 2 people aboard were uninjured. The aircraft sustained substantial damage.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause of this incident to be: The pilot's decision to land in a grassy area next to a paved runway, which resulted in impact with a ditch and subsequent nose landing gear collapse.

According to the pilot, during the landing on a grassy area that was parallel to the paved runway, the airplane touched down and impacted a ditch near an intersecting taxiway. The airplane became airborne, touched down on the other side of the intersecting taxiway, bounced again, and then landed hard on the nose gear, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage and subsequent collapse of the nose landing gear. In a telephone interview the pilot stated that the ditch was approximately 200 feet from his initial touchdown point and that he regularly lands on the grass, in the opposite direction, in order to minimize the wear on the main landing gear tires. No preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures were noted with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

This incident is documented in NTSB report ERA12CA519. AviatorDB cross-references NTSB investigation data with FAA registry records to provide comprehensive safety information for aircraft N80GE.