ERA21LA012
2020-10-03 · Spruce Pines, North Carolina, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport 7A8
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot's failure to familiarize himself with the wind conditions at the destination airport and his failure to attain the proper touchdown point during landing, which resulted in a long, tailwind landing and subsequent runway overrun.
Factual narrative
Before attempting to land on the 3,001-ft-long, asphalt runway, the pilot had been advised by personnel at the destination airport that landing toward the upsloping direction of the runway was preferred. The pilot did not check the wind direction prior to landing, and during the landing flare, the airplane did not slow down or descend. The pilot added full flaps, but the airplane continued to float and touched down with about 200 ft of remaining runway. Subsequently, the airplane overran the runway end, proceeded through the airport perimeter fence, traveled down an embankment, and came to rest on a road. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. Following the accident, the pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation and stated that he believed that a tailwind was likely present during the landing attempt. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12
NTSB Findings
FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.
- — Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Decision making/judgment-Pilot
- — Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot
- — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Descent/approach/glide path-Not attained/maintained
- — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Tailwind-Awareness of condition
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2020_ERA21LA012.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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