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ERA21LA038

2020-11-01 · Warner Robins, Georgia, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 5A2

Current FAA registration · N3225B

Make / Model
PIPER PA-22-135
Year of manufacture
1954 · 66 years old at event
Engine
LYCOMING 0-290 SERIES (140 hp)
Seats / Engines
4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19560514
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A378C7

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s improper compensation for shifting wind conditions, which resulted in a runway excursion and a subsequent nose over.

Factual narrative

During a full-stop landing attempt, the pilot realized that the wind had shifted from a crosswind to a tailwind. After touchdown, he realized insufficient runway remained to abort the landing, so he applied maximum wheel braking. He made a wide, right turn to help decelerate the airplane, during which the airplane departed the runway surface. The airplane then nosed over and came to rest inverted, which resulted in substantial damage to the wings. The pilot reported no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Tailwind-Awareness of condition
  • — Personnel issues-Psychological-Attention/monitoring-Monitoring environment-Pilot
  • — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-(general)-Not attained/maintained
  • — Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2020_ERA21LA038.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (runway excursion). All research papers