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Atlas / NTSB / CEN19TA310

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event CEN19TA310

2019-09-07 Winnsboro, Louisiana, United States Airport · 6LA6 None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during a crosswind landing, which resulted in an impact with a tree.

Factual narrative

On September 7, 2019, about 1000 central daylight time, a Champion 7KCAB airplane, N4136Y, impacted a tree during landing on runway 36 (3,000 ft by 75 ft, turf) at the Williams Flying Service Airport (6LA6), near Winnsboro, Louisiana. The commercial pilot and passenger reported no injuries. The airplane sustained substantial wing and fuselage damage. The airplane was registered to an individual and was operated by the pilot as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. Day visual meteorological conditions prevailed in the area about the time of the accident, and the flight was not operated on a flight plan. The local flight departed from 6LA6 about 0930. The pilot reported that during the landing touchdown on the runway the airplane bounced once followed by a "normal" touchdown on the main landing gear wheels. The airplane then veered left off the runway centerline. Right rudder was applied, and it had "no effect." The airplane slowed "considerably" and continued veering to the left after full right ruder was applied. The airplane subsequently impacted a tree where it sustained the substantial damage. The pilot reported that there were no airplane mechanical malfunctions. At 0953, the recorded nearby wind was 280° at 10 kts. The pilot reported that, while landing the tailwheel-equipped airplane on the turf runway, the airplane bounced once followed by a "normal" touchdown on the main gear. The airplane started veering to the left and the pilot applied right rudder to correct, but it had "no effect." The airplane slowed "considerably" and continued veering to the left. The airplane subsequently impacted a tree, resulting in substantial damage. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions of the airplane. The recorded wind conditions from a nearby airport were consistent with a left crosswind for the landing runway. 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 Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
  • Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Tree(s)-Contributed to outcome
  • Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained
  • Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Crosswind-Effect on operation

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2019_CEN19TA310.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.