Cessna 182 N58628 accident near Oakland, California

Probable cause

The pilot's premature full retraction of the flaps during a go-around and his subsequent improper decision to turn with a minimal climb gradient, which resulted in an off-airport landing and a landing gear collapse.

NTSB analysis

The pilot reported that, during landing, the airplane bounced multiple times. He added power and reduced the flaps to go around, but the airplane would not climb more than 25 ft. He waited to see if the situation would improve, but he was approaching the end of the runway. He turned the airplane right; however, the airplane still did not climb, so he reduced power and conducted an off-airport landing, during which the airplane bounced a few times, and the nose landing gear collapsed. He added that it was possible that "putting the flaps up un-incrementally could have prevented" the airplane from climbing.

The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage.

The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

The airport's automated weather observation station reported that, about 4 minutes after the accident, the wind was from 250° at 7 knots. The pilot landed the airplane on runway 28.

The Federal Aviation Administration's Airplane Flying Handbook, FAA-H-8083-3B, contained a section titled, "Go-Arounds (Rejected Landings)," which stated, in part, the following:

Caution must be used in retracting the flaps. Depending on the airplane's altitude and airspeed, it is wise to retract the flaps intermittently in small increments to allow time for the airplane to accelerate progressively as they are being raised. A sudden and complete retraction of the flaps could cause a loss of lift resulting in the airplane settling into the ground.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for GAA19CA504 for the full record.