NTSB Factual Report

On August 4, 2002, about 1030 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 182P, N58818, sustained substantial damage following an aborted takeoff and subsequent nose over at the Sulphur Creek Ranch Airport (ID74), Cascade, Idaho. The airplane is owned by the pilot, and was being operated as a personal pleasure flight under the provisions of Title 14, CFR Part 91. The private pilot and the three passengers aboard the airplane were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the cross-country flight. The pilot's planned destination was Caldwell, Idaho.

In a written statement, dated August 8, the pilot stated that the airplane did not rotate when he expected it to, and that when it finally lifted off it was not developing full engine RPM. He further stated that once the airplane became airborne, the flight control were "mushy" and he elected to abort the takeoff from an altitude of approximately 20 feet above ground level (AGL), and "...put down off [the] end of [the] runway". The airplane touched down beyond the departure end of the runway, in a bog, and nosed over.

In his written statement the pilot attributed the lack of aircraft performance to; a high density altitude (estimated to be 7,698 feet mean sea level [MSL]) and a 10 knot tail wind during takeoff. He also reported that the propeller control knob was incorrectly set to a high pitch low RPM setting during takeoff, and that he had not completed the before takeoff checklist prior to departure.

The before takeoff checklist procedures for the Cessna 182P, as published in Section four of the Pilot's Operating Handbook (POH), specifies that the propeller be placed in the "high RPM (full in)" position before takeoff.

NTSB Probable Cause

The pilot's inadequate decision and his improper setting of the propeller controls. Contributing factors were a tailwind, high density altitude, and swampy terrain.