NTSB Factual Report

On July 23, 2003, approximately 0615 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 182C, N8492T, registered to Caapers, Inc., and being operated/flown by a private pilot, sustained substantial damage when the aircraft struck an airport perimeter fence during a balked landing, at the Cashmere-Dryden airport, Cashmere, Washington. The pilot and three passengers were uninjured. Visual meteorological conditions existed and no flight plan had been filed. The flight, which was personal, was operated under 14 CFR 91, and originated from the Cashmere airport at 0515.

The pilot reported in a telephone interview that he was returning from a local flight and entered a left downwind for runway 07 at the Cashmere airport. He reported that both windsocks were limp but in opposing directions, and that after calling the downwind, base and final he touched down about midfield on the 1,800-foot long asphalt runway. He pulled off the power, retracted the flaps and began braking but felt he would not be able to stop the aircraft before the upwind end of the runway. He then powered up and executed a balked landing during which the aircraft's nose wheel clipped a fence beyond the upwind end of the runway. The nose gear collapsed and the aircraft crossed a street coming to rest inverted a short distance further east. The pilot reported no perceived mechanical malfunctions with the aircraft (refer to Attachment TC-I, photograph 1, and graphic image I).

The pilot's submitted NTSB Form 6120.1 (attached) narrative reported "...Landed long. Unable to stop. Ran off end of runway...."

The Cashmere-Dryden airport is equipped with a single, bi-directional runway (07/25) measuring 1,800 feet in length and 50 feet in width. The airport is approximately 853 feet above mean sea level and is 13 nautical miles west of the Wenatchee airport. The most recent FAA Form 5010 contained a remark documenting a 4 foot high fence located 90 feet beyond the upwind end of runway 07 and oriented perpendicular to the extended centerline (refer to Attachment 5010-I).

The aviation surface weather observation at Wenatchee for 0555 reported winds from 280 degrees magnetic at 11 knots under clear sky conditions.

The approximate azimuth and elevation of the sun at the time of the accident at the Cashmere-Dryden airport was 68 degrees true and +8 degrees respectively (refer to Attachment WV-I).

NTSB Probable Cause

The pilot in command's misjudgment of distance and speed, and his failure to execute a go-around. A contributing factor was the fence.