N78720

On June 13, 2025, about 1030 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 182P, N78720, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Hyampom, California. The pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.

The pilot reported that during cruise flight about 8,500 ft mean sea level (msl), as he approached his destination, he could not descend until he was clear of a temporary flight restriction (TFR). Once he was clear of the TFR, he reduced engine power significantly, decreased airspeed and applied 10° of flaps before he began a descent to Hyampom Airport (H47), Hyampom, California. During the descent, the pilot conducted the prelanding checklist, verified the fuel selector lever was on both, advanced the propeller control lever to full forward and incrementally advanced the fuel mixture to the full rich. He said that the entire descent was conducted at a low power setting and that he kept the cowl flaps closed to prevent shock cooling the engine.

The pilot entered the airport traffic pattern for runway 32, and while on the base leg, he advanced the throttle, with no response from the engine. He then applied full throttle and verified that the mixture and propeller control levers were full forward. Unable to maintain altitude, the pilot initiated a forced landing to a gravel sand bar, about 900 ft short of the runway 32 threshold. The pilot stated that he landed hard and that the nosewheel and nosewheel strut separated after impacting large gravel rocks. The airplane came to rest upright about 150 ft from the initial touchdown point. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the forward fuselage was substantially damaged.

The wreckage was recovered for further examination.