Narrative:

Tuned to ATIS to get the latest information before contacting the tower. We heard the last recording of ATIS information, then there was a couple min pause while they brought up next ATIS information. That ATIS information changed the landing runway from runway 11 to runway 29. We made contact with the tower and were told to enter a right downwind for runway 29R. Downwind (100 KIAS with gear down) was normal. Base leg was normal. Final approach was normal (just slightly above 3 degree glide path). Over the threshold we were at 70 KIAS with 40 degrees of flaps and on runway centerline -- everything still normal. On flare out, and just before the wheels were going to touch the runway, the tail suddenly kicked right and up (turning the nose left and down). The left wheel had lightly touched down but we had been turned sideways enough that the nose was pointing about 40 degrees left of centerline. I applied slight power and back pressure to lift the plane and straighten the nose. I attempted to add power (without over-boosting) in order to fly back towards the runway centerline and recover the landing. The plane did not respond with any noticeable power! I then added full power. The plane still would not respond with any power increase. The engine was running rough and 'surgey' with no indications of an increase in manifold pressure. We were now beyond the edge of the runway and still drifting laterally to the left (with the nose still parallel to the centerline). At this point, my focus turned to keeping the nose pointed in the direction that we were going (about 20-30 degrees off centerline) so that if we touched down in the grass we would not land sideways and cartwheel. I thought that if I could keep the plane about 8-10 ft off the ground, the power would eventually 'kick in' and the plane would accelerate in the ground effect. In a continuous attempt to stay in the air we were kind of 'bobbing' up and down probably between 5 ft and 15 ft above the ground with the nose always level. We never had enough altitude to consider releasing any of the flaps or raising the gear. I continued to try to keep the plane in the air. We 'mushed' our way approximately 5000 ft in the upwind direction, before clipping one of the wheels on the top of a bank. Ground speed at this point was very slow. Catching the wheel caused the nose to drop and the propeller to contact the ground. We made a very slow 1/2 of somersault over the nose and came to rest upside down about 6000 ft from the runway 29R threshold. Pilot and 2 passenger were on board. All ok. When we got out of the plane, we immediately looked at the windsock down by the runway 29R touchdown area. It was indicating about 8-10 KT winds out of the east (meaning tailwind for a runway 29 approach). We noticed that they had switched runways (back to runway 11) and that planes were already approaching for runway 11 lndgs. Human performance considerations: I had flown this particular turbo 182RG several times in the past. I had always felt that at least the turbo powered part of the plane was 'flaky.' on takeoff, the plane would always drop about 8 inches of manifold pressure within a few seconds of lift-off. Power would need to be quickly increased (back to takeoff setting), then after maybe 5-10 more seconds, manifold pressure would fall again (this time about 5 inches), and the process of increasing power would be repeated. This would usually need to be done 3 or 4 times until the turbo stabilized (if that's what is going on). I never thought, though, that this condition was necessarily unsafe as long as I was ready for it and knew what to expect. My other experience with turbo powered aircraft is with a piper turbo arrow. With the arrow, once the manifold pressure is set -- it holds that pressure rock steady until climbing close to the service ceiling (20000 ft for the ARR0W). Gusty winds and minor windshear are fairly common at the airport I was landing. Normally, the addition of power to fly back to the runway centerline, or the addition of full power for a go around could be accomplished easily with the speed we had (even on the hot day that it was). The engine didn't die or anything, it just wouldn't get to more than about 12 inches. I thought at the time that if I could have stayed in the air for a little longer, there was a good chance that the power would return. We went about 5000 ft down the runway (above the grass) trying to climb. We had three 170 pound people and only about 25 gals of fuel on board. Even with the full flaps, gear down, and carburetor heat on for part of the time, I feel we should have been able to climb out (the next day I went back up with a normally aspirated, fixed gear 182, under the same hot conditions, and similar loading -- and had no problems).

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C182RG TURBO HAS PWR PROB ON APCH WITH LOSS OF CTL. MAKES OFF RWY LNDG AND ACFT FLIPS OVER.

Narrative: TUNED TO ATIS TO GET THE LATEST INFO BEFORE CONTACTING THE TWR. WE HEARD THE LAST RECORDING OF ATIS INFO, THEN THERE WAS A COUPLE MIN PAUSE WHILE THEY BROUGHT UP NEXT ATIS INFO. THAT ATIS INFO CHANGED THE LNDG RWY FROM RWY 11 TO RWY 29. WE MADE CONTACT WITH THE TWR AND WERE TOLD TO ENTER A R DOWNWIND FOR RWY 29R. DOWNWIND (100 KIAS WITH GEAR DOWN) WAS NORMAL. BASE LEG WAS NORMAL. FINAL APCH WAS NORMAL (JUST SLIGHTLY ABOVE 3 DEG GLIDE PATH). OVER THE THRESHOLD WE WERE AT 70 KIAS WITH 40 DEGS OF FLAPS AND ON RWY CTRLINE -- EVERYTHING STILL NORMAL. ON FLARE OUT, AND JUST BEFORE THE WHEELS WERE GOING TO TOUCH THE RWY, THE TAIL SUDDENLY KICKED R AND UP (TURNING THE NOSE L AND DOWN). THE L WHEEL HAD LIGHTLY TOUCHED DOWN BUT WE HAD BEEN TURNED SIDEWAYS ENOUGH THAT THE NOSE WAS POINTING ABOUT 40 DEGS L OF CTRLINE. I APPLIED SLIGHT PWR AND BACK PRESSURE TO LIFT THE PLANE AND STRAIGHTEN THE NOSE. I ATTEMPTED TO ADD PWR (WITHOUT OVER-BOOSTING) IN ORDER TO FLY BACK TOWARDS THE RWY CTRLINE AND RECOVER THE LNDG. THE PLANE DID NOT RESPOND WITH ANY NOTICEABLE PWR! I THEN ADDED FULL PWR. THE PLANE STILL WOULD NOT RESPOND WITH ANY PWR INCREASE. THE ENG WAS RUNNING ROUGH AND 'SURGEY' WITH NO INDICATIONS OF AN INCREASE IN MANIFOLD PRESSURE. WE WERE NOW BEYOND THE EDGE OF THE RWY AND STILL DRIFTING LATERALLY TO THE L (WITH THE NOSE STILL PARALLEL TO THE CTRLINE). AT THIS POINT, MY FOCUS TURNED TO KEEPING THE NOSE POINTED IN THE DIRECTION THAT WE WERE GOING (ABOUT 20-30 DEGS OFF CTRLINE) SO THAT IF WE TOUCHED DOWN IN THE GRASS WE WOULD NOT LAND SIDEWAYS AND CARTWHEEL. I THOUGHT THAT IF I COULD KEEP THE PLANE ABOUT 8-10 FT OFF THE GND, THE PWR WOULD EVENTUALLY 'KICK IN' AND THE PLANE WOULD ACCELERATE IN THE GND EFFECT. IN A CONTINUOUS ATTEMPT TO STAY IN THE AIR WE WERE KIND OF 'BOBBING' UP AND DOWN PROBABLY BTWN 5 FT AND 15 FT ABOVE THE GND WITH THE NOSE ALWAYS LEVEL. WE NEVER HAD ENOUGH ALT TO CONSIDER RELEASING ANY OF THE FLAPS OR RAISING THE GEAR. I CONTINUED TO TRY TO KEEP THE PLANE IN THE AIR. WE 'MUSHED' OUR WAY APPROX 5000 FT IN THE UPWIND DIRECTION, BEFORE CLIPPING ONE OF THE WHEELS ON THE TOP OF A BANK. GND SPD AT THIS POINT WAS VERY SLOW. CATCHING THE WHEEL CAUSED THE NOSE TO DROP AND THE PROP TO CONTACT THE GND. WE MADE A VERY SLOW 1/2 OF SOMERSAULT OVER THE NOSE AND CAME TO REST UPSIDE DOWN ABOUT 6000 FT FROM THE RWY 29R THRESHOLD. PLT AND 2 PAX WERE ON BOARD. ALL OK. WHEN WE GOT OUT OF THE PLANE, WE IMMEDIATELY LOOKED AT THE WINDSOCK DOWN BY THE RWY 29R TOUCHDOWN AREA. IT WAS INDICATING ABOUT 8-10 KT WINDS OUT OF THE E (MEANING TAILWIND FOR A RWY 29 APCH). WE NOTICED THAT THEY HAD SWITCHED RWYS (BACK TO RWY 11) AND THAT PLANES WERE ALREADY APCHING FOR RWY 11 LNDGS. HUMAN PERFORMANCE CONSIDERATIONS: I HAD FLOWN THIS PARTICULAR TURBO 182RG SEVERAL TIMES IN THE PAST. I HAD ALWAYS FELT THAT AT LEAST THE TURBO POWERED PART OF THE PLANE WAS 'FLAKY.' ON TKOF, THE PLANE WOULD ALWAYS DROP ABOUT 8 INCHES OF MANIFOLD PRESSURE WITHIN A FEW SECONDS OF LIFT-OFF. PWR WOULD NEED TO BE QUICKLY INCREASED (BACK TO TKOF SETTING), THEN AFTER MAYBE 5-10 MORE SECONDS, MANIFOLD PRESSURE WOULD FALL AGAIN (THIS TIME ABOUT 5 INCHES), AND THE PROCESS OF INCREASING PWR WOULD BE REPEATED. THIS WOULD USUALLY NEED TO BE DONE 3 OR 4 TIMES UNTIL THE TURBO STABILIZED (IF THAT'S WHAT IS GOING ON). I NEVER THOUGHT, THOUGH, THAT THIS CONDITION WAS NECESSARILY UNSAFE AS LONG AS I WAS READY FOR IT AND KNEW WHAT TO EXPECT. MY OTHER EXPERIENCE WITH TURBO POWERED ACFT IS WITH A PIPER TURBO ARROW. WITH THE ARROW, ONCE THE MANIFOLD PRESSURE IS SET -- IT HOLDS THAT PRESSURE ROCK STEADY UNTIL CLBING CLOSE TO THE SVC CEILING (20000 FT FOR THE ARR0W). GUSTY WINDS AND MINOR WINDSHEAR ARE FAIRLY COMMON AT THE ARPT I WAS LNDG. NORMALLY, THE ADDITION OF PWR TO FLY BACK TO THE RWY CTRLINE, OR THE ADDITION OF FULL PWR FOR A GAR COULD BE ACCOMPLISHED EASILY WITH THE SPD WE HAD (EVEN ON THE HOT DAY THAT IT WAS). THE ENG DIDN'T DIE OR ANYTHING, IT JUST WOULDN'T GET TO MORE THAN ABOUT 12 INCHES. I THOUGHT AT THE TIME THAT IF I COULD HAVE STAYED IN THE AIR FOR A LITTLE LONGER, THERE WAS A GOOD CHANCE THAT THE PWR WOULD RETURN. WE WENT ABOUT 5000 FT DOWN THE RWY (ABOVE THE GRASS) TRYING TO CLB. WE HAD THREE 170 LB PEOPLE AND ONLY ABOUT 25 GALS OF FUEL ON BOARD. EVEN WITH THE FULL FLAPS, GEAR DOWN, AND CARB HEAT ON FOR PART OF THE TIME, I FEEL WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO CLB OUT (THE NEXT DAY I WENT BACK UP WITH A NORMALLY ASPIRATED, FIXED GEAR 182, UNDER THE SAME HOT CONDITIONS, AND SIMILAR LOADING -- AND HAD NO PROBS).

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.