Event CEN12CA409

Factual narrative

The pilot and two passengers returned to the airport after a short sight-seeing flight. On landing, the airplane had about 5 knots of crosswind. The airplane turned to the left and the pilot tried to correct the turn by adding control inputs. However, the airplane continued to turn left into a ground loop. The airplane came to rest on the side of the runway, with substantial damage to its wings and fuselage. The pilot reported that he had landed the airplane in the past with much stronger crosswinds and felt comfortable with the conditions at the time. During the landing roll with about 5 knots of crosswind, the airplane turned to the left, and the pilot tried to correct the turn by adding control inputs. However, the airplane ground looped to the left and came to rest on the side of the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to its wings and fuselage. The pilot reported that he had landed the airplane in the past with much stronger crosswinds and felt comfortable with the conditions at the time. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

• C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained - C
• C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
• — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Crosswind-Response/compensation