Narrative:

Winds were forecast to be gusty on our flight with the winds forecast to be 230 to 250 at 12 to 20 KTS gusting to 30 KTS. There was also an airmet for light to moderate turbulence along our route of flight. We decided to go ahead with the flight as the forecast winds were within my and the aircraft's limits and abilities. I obtained a duats weather briefing. En route we did encounter some turbulence; and the winds enroute were pretty much as forecast. On final; the tower reported winds 240 at 22; gusting to 39. Given the reported direction of the winds; we chose runway 28; as it was most closely aligned with the reported winds. We landed behind a navajo that reported wind shear and a rough ride. Because of the reported winds; I decided to use only 20 degrees of flaps; as recommended in the poh. Final approach was turbulent; but I was able to control the plane and airspeed. At the end of 28; the windsock was straight-out; indicating strong wind almost 90 degrees to the runway. We touched down firmly but not with any significant drop at about 60-65 KTS with 20 degrees of flaps and in a normal landing attitude; both roll and yaw. But very shortly after touchdown; I was unable to maintain directional control even with full scale deflection of the controls; and we went into the ditch on the left (south) side of the runway. The aircraft pitched down in the soft mud; causing the prop to strike the ground and stop. I was prepared for a difficult landing and have had experience with similar conditions on runway 28. It is common for the actual wind at the east end of 28 to be different from the reported wind. Runway 17 might have been a better choice. I intend to avoid such high and gusty winds.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C182 pilot reports landing in a strong crosswind and departing the runway when directional control could not be maintained.

Narrative: Winds were forecast to be gusty on our flight with the winds forecast to be 230 to 250 at 12 to 20 KTS gusting to 30 KTS. There was also an AIRMET for light to moderate turbulence along our route of flight. We decided to go ahead with the flight as the forecast winds were within my and the aircraft's limits and abilities. I obtained a DUATS weather briefing. En route we did encounter some turbulence; and the winds enroute were pretty much as forecast. On final; the tower reported winds 240 at 22; gusting to 39. Given the reported direction of the winds; we chose Runway 28; as it was most closely aligned with the reported winds. We landed behind a Navajo that reported wind shear and a rough ride. Because of the reported winds; I decided to use only 20 degrees of flaps; as recommended in the POH. Final approach was turbulent; but I was able to control the plane and airspeed. At the end of 28; the windsock was straight-out; indicating strong wind almost 90 degrees to the runway. We touched down firmly but not with any significant drop at about 60-65 KTS with 20 degrees of flaps and in a normal landing attitude; both roll and yaw. But very shortly after touchdown; I was unable to maintain directional control even with full scale deflection of the controls; and we went into the ditch on the left (south) side of the runway. The aircraft pitched down in the soft mud; causing the prop to strike the ground and stop. I was prepared for a difficult landing and have had experience with similar conditions on Runway 28. It is common for the actual wind at the east end of 28 to be different from the reported wind. Runway 17 might have been a better choice. I intend to avoid such high and gusty winds.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.