Backflop on the Salt Flat

Utah-based private pilot Bradley Kalmar may want to get his eye glasses checked. The low-time private pilot was out looking for a place to practice "off-airport" landings on 14 September when he recieved a hard lesson in soft-field etiquette.

As far as a location to do an off-airport landing, it's hard to imagine there'd be any safer than a salt flat in Nevada, but you can't judge a book by its hard-looking cover, apparently.

"Did low/slow fly-bys of an area that had tire marks in soil and looked to be firm and stable," Kalmar writes in his accident report to the NTSB. "Configured aircraft for soft field landing and executed landing."

Everything seemed fine untl the Cessna 172M slowed to about 25kt. Then...

Here's the view looking back, showing the ruts..

Lesson learned?

"Receive proper instruction for off-airport landings," Kalmar writes, adding, "Receive further instruction for off-airport landings."