Cessna 180 accident near Huntington, Utah, September 29, 2012
On September 29, 2012 at about 7:10 pm local time, a Cessna 180, registered N3115D, was substantially damaged in an accident during takeoff near Huntington, Utah (Huntington Municipal airport). It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 4 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's inadvertent encounter with a gust front during the takeoff roll, which resulted in loss of control of the airplane.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- September 29, 2012 · about 7:10 pm local time
- Place
- Huntington, Utah · Huntington Municipal · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 4 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 180 · all 180s on the register
- Registration
- N3115D · registry record · serial 31913
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The commercial pilot/owner was using his high-wing, tailwheel-equipped airplane to participate in an Experimental Aircraft Association Young Eagles event at a non-towered airport. The airport was situated in high desert terrain at an elevation of about 6,000 feet. About 1300, when the pilot had already completed 8 flights, and the other airplanes and pilots had also been actively flying, the pilot boarded three young passengers. According to the pilot, there were no clouds in the immediate vicinity, the wind was calm, and an automated weather broadcast for an airport about 17 miles to the northeast reported similar conditions. He started the airplane and taxied out for departure on runway 8. The airport windsock was "motionless" as he began the takeoff roll. A few hundred feet down the runway, while the airplane was still below liftoff speed, the left wing rose up, and the airplane weathervaned nose left about 60 degrees. The airplane exited the left (north) side of the runway, and then rotated about 120 degrees nose right before it came to rest. The right wing and fuselage sustained substantial damage, and the pilot and passengers were uninjured. About the same time, a flight instructor in an airplane on the downwind leg for runway 8 encountered "turbulence," which resulted in a 500-foot altitude loss before she could stop the descent by "climbing" at her best angle-of-climb speed. Numerous persons at the airport for the event reported that a sudden, strong, and unexpected "wind gust" swept across the airport, and disturbed many objects on the ground, including some airplanes. They reported that it traveled approximately northwest to southeast, which meant that it approached the accident airplane from its left rear quarter. One pilot on the ground reported that there was a "storm brewing" near the mountains, about 6 miles northwest of the airport, at the time of the accident. According to Federal Aviation Administration Advisory Circular 00-24 (Thunderstorms), "Gust fronts often move far ahead (up to 15 miles) of associated precipitation. The gust front causes a rapid and sometimes drastic change in surface wind ahead of an approaching storm."
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
What happened, in order
- Other weather encounter during takeoff
- Loss of control on ground during takeoff defining event
The NTSB's findings
- cause Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena › Wind › High wind › Contributed to outcome
- cause Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena › Wind › High wind › Awareness of condition
- cause Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability › Performance/control parameters › Directional control › Attain/maintain not possible
Pilot
- Certificate: commercial pilot
- Ratings: single-engine land; single-engine sea; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 3,354 hours in all; 748 in this make and model; 31 in the last 90 days; 6 in the last 30 days; 2,781 as pilot in command
- Last flight review: March 7, 2012
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (without waivers/limitations)
- Seat: left
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 6,269 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, March 19, 2012
- Maximum gross weight: 2,550 lb
- Seats: 4
- Landing gear: fixed
The flight
- Departed from: 69V Huntington UT at 7:15 pm
- Destination: 69V Huntington UT
- Flight plan: not recorded
- Runway 08, 4,048 ft by 75 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Visibility: 25 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 70°F (21°C), dew point 39°F (4°C)
- Altimeter: 30.12 inHg
- Observation at 7:14 pm from 69V
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flight crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 3 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.