ERA20CA185

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that he was performing touch and go landings. On his third landing, he knew there was a crosswind from his left side, so he touched down with the left main landing gear first. When the right main landing gear touched down, the airplane started to veer off to the left, so he corrected with right rudder and the airplane pulled hard to the right. The pilot then saw a ditch on the right side of the runway, so he applied "hard left rudder" to purposefully put the airplane into a ground loop so the airplane would not go off the runway and into the ditch. During the ground loop, the right main landing gear fractured and folded under the fuselage. Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the right main landing gear tube fractured, and that the fracture surfaces did not display corrosion. The right wing rear spar and the lower longeron were substantially damaged. Examination of the flight controls and brakes showed no evidence of any preaccident anomalies. At the time of the accident a left crosswind component of between 9 and 17 knots prevailed. The pilot reported that he was performing touch and go landings. On his third landing, he knew there was a crosswind from his left side, so he touched down with the left main landing gear first. When the right main landing gear touched down, the airplane started to veer off to the left, so he corrected with right rudder and the airplane pulled hard to the right. The pilot then saw a ditch on the right side of the runway, so he applied "hard left rudder" to purposefully put the airplane into a ground loop so the airplane would not go off the runway and into the ditch. During the ground loop, the right main landing gear fractured and folded under the fuselage. Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the right main landing gear tube fractured, and that the fracture surfaces did not display corrosion. The right wing rear spar and the lower longeron were substantially damaged. Examination of the flight controls and brakes showed no evidence of any preaccident anomalies. At the time of the accident a left crosswind component of between 9 and 17 knots prevailed. 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
• — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Crosswind-Effect on operation
• — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained