Event CEN24LA374

Factual narrative

The pilot was conducting a three-point landing in his tailwheel-equipped airplane when it began drifting left of the runway centerline after touchdown. The pilot decided to abort the landing by moving the throttle to full engine power. However, with the additional left-turning-tendencies associated with the engine at takeoff power, the pilot was unable to maintain directional control and the airplane departed off the left side of the runway and into a drainage swale. The airplane became briefly airborne below normal rotation airspeed as it ascended from the opposite side of the drainage swale, after which the airplane pitched down and impacted the ground nose first. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, wings, and engine mounts. The pilot did not report any mechanical malfunctions with the airplane and postulated that the accident might have been avoided had he continued with the full-stop landing (instead of aborting the landing). 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).

• — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained
• — Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot