Skip to content

ERA23LA374

2023-09-14 · Cortland, New York, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport N03

Current FAA registration · N5269G

Make / Model
CESSNA 305A
Year of manufacture
1951 · 72 years old at event
Engine
CONT MOTOR O-470 SERIES (230 hp)
Seats / Engines
2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19720314
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A6A2D2

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control while landing in a gusting crosswind, which resulted in a noseover. Contributing was the pilot’s lack of familiarity with the airplane.

Factual narrative

The multi-segment cross-country flight was the pilot’s first time flying the tailwheel-equipped airplane. Arriving at the destination airport, the pilot noted quartering gusts when he cleared a tree line to land on the asphalt runway. Following touchdown, the airplane pulled to the right and he applied left brake to correct; however, the airplane nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings, empennage, and fuselage. Postaccident examination of the brakes revealed no evidence of any preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions that would have precluded normal operation. The recorded wind at the nearest weather reporting facility, about 13 miles southwest of the accident airport, was a quartering right crosswind at 12 knots, gusting to 19 knots at the time of the accident. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, 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
  • — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Gusts-Effect on operation
  • — Personnel issues-Experience/knowledge-Knowledge-Knowledge of equipment-Pilot

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2023_ERA23LA374.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. All research papers