NTSB CAROL · Event
Event FTW93LA099
Registry · N7770K
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
CESSNA 180J
Year of manufacture
1976 · 17 years old at event
Engine
CONT MOTOR O-470 SERIES (230 hp)
Seats / Engines
6 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19760614
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S AA856A
Registrant of record
AIR CRAFT LLC
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
AIRCRAFT CONTROL NOT MAINTAINED BY THE PILOT. A FACTOR WAS VIBRATION IN THE TAILWHEEL FOR UNDETERMINED REASONS.
Factual narrative
On March 8, 1993, at approximately 1530 mountain standard time, during the landing roll at Double Eagle II Airport, Albuquerque, New Mexico, a Cessna 180J, N7770K, was substantially damaged following a loss of control. The private pilot did not sustain injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal flight. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector examined the accident site. Flight control continuity was confirmed. Damage involved the left wing and left elevator. During an interview with the pilot by the FAA inspector, the pilot stated the facts in this paragraph. The tailwheel developed a "severe vibration" during a landing at the Coronado Airport, Albuquerque, New Mexico, earlier that day. The pilot and a mechanic tightened the tailwheel nut. During the landing roll at the Double Eagle II Airport, the tailwheel "vibration occurred and the airplane veered to the right of the runway and ground looped." DURING A LANDING AT A LOCAL AIRPORT, THE PILOT REPORTED THAT HE EXPERIENCED VIBRATION IN THE AIRPLANE ON A PREVIOUS LANDING, WHICH HE FELT ORIGINATED IN THE TAILWHEEL. THE PILOT AND A MECHANIC TIGHTENED THE TAILWHEEL NUT. THE PILOT ELECTED TO PROCEED TO HIS NEXT DESTINATION AND DURING THE LANDING THE VIBRATION RECURRED. DURING THE LANDING ROLL, THE AIRPLANE VEERED OFF THE RUNWAY AND GROUND LOOPED. AN EXAMINATION OF THE TAILWHEEL REVEALED NO ANOMALIES. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1993_FTW93LA099.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (loss of control). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2025 · Journal article (JAAER)
A Scoping Review of Aviation Loss of Control Inflight Research
Loss of control – inflight (LOC-I) contributes to aircraft accidents at unacceptably high rates. Significant industry efforts and research have aimed to improve LOC-I prevention, detection, and recove…
- SKYbrary (Eurocontrol) 2024 · SKYbrary article
Loss of Control In-Flight (LOC-I) — SKYbrary Knowledge Base
SKYbrary comprehensive knowledge-base entry on Loss of Control In-Flight — definitions, contributing factors, accident case studies (Air France 447, Colgan 3407), and prevention strategies.
- NTSB Aircraft Accident Reports 2022 · Accident report
Loss of Control on Takeoff in Icing Conditions — Citation 560XL
Cessna Citation 560XL fatal takeoff icing accident, March 2018. Investigation of a Citation 560XL loss-of-control takeoff accident in icing conditions.
- Semantic Scholar 2021 · Article (Aviation)
ANALYSIS OF GENERAL AVIATION FIXED-WING AIRCRAFT ACCIDENTS INVOLVING INFLIGHT LOSS OF CONTROL USING A STATE-BASED APPROACH
Inflight loss of control (LOC-I) is a significant cause of General Aviation (GA) fixed-wing aircraft accidents. The United States National Transportation Safety Board’s database provides a rich source…
- NASA NTRS 2021 · Presentation
Use of Design of Experiments in Determining Neural Network Architectures for Loss of Control Detection
Abstract—We describe empirical methods for selecting a neural network architecture to implement belief state inference on generic commercial transport aircraft.
- NASA NTRS 2021 · Conference Paper
Use of Design of Experiments in Determining Neural Network Architectures for Loss of Control Detection
We describe empirical methods for selecting a neural network architecture to implement belief state inference on generic commercial transport aircraft.
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