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ERA19TA223

2019-07-07 · Okeechobee, Florida, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport OBE

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s failure to maintain directional while landing with a quartering tailwind, which resulted in a ground loop.

Factual narrative

On July 7, 2019, about 1000 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 180J, N52031, was substantially damaged while landing at Okeechobee County Airport (OBE), Okeechobee, Florida. The airline transport pilot and passenger were not injured. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the flight that departed Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport (FXE), Fort Lauderdale, Florida, about 0900. The pilot reported that the airplane touched down on the runway 5 centerline and started to drift left. He corrected with right rudder input, but the airplane started to drift left again. He then applied right brake and rudder input, and the airplane changed direction 30°; however, the left wing and left horizontal stabilizer contacted the runway before the airplane came to a stop. The pilot added that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions with the airplane. Review of damage photographs provided by the pilot revealed substantial damage to the left wing, left elevator, and left horizontal stabilizer. The recorded wind at OBE, at 0955, was from 200° at 7 knots. The tailwheel-equipped airplane touched down on the runway centerline in a 7-knot right quartering tailwind and started to drift left. The pilot corrected with right rudder input, but the airplane started to drift left again. He then applied right brake and rudder input, and the airplane changed direction 30°; however, the left wing and left horizontal stabilizer contacted the runway before the airplane came to a stop. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing, left elevator, and left horizontal stabilizer. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions with the airplane. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

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

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2019_ERA19TA223.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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