NTSB CAROL · Event
Event IAD96LA066
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot's failure to maintain control of the aircraft while taxiing for takeoff. Related factors were the wet runway and the gusty crosswind.
Factual narrative
On April 23, 1996, at about 2141 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 208, N776FE, operated by Mountain Air Cargo, Inc., in Denver, North Carolina, sustained substantial when it tipped onto its left side while taxiing in gusty wind conditions at the Washington Dulles International Airport, in Washington, DC. The pilot, the sole occupant of the airplane, was not injured. Visual Meteorological Conditions prevailed, and an instrument flight plan was filed. The accident occurred while the pilot was taxiing the airplane to runway 30 for departure, with an intended destination of Richmond, Virginia. The pilot reported: "After being cleared by the tower to taxi into position and hold on runway 30, the aircraft began to skid on the threshold markings causing the airplane to lose traction and the wing to raise up on the right side." He stated the airplane tipped over, coming to rest on the left wing and propeller. He reported that the wind continued to blow the airplane after it tipped, and it skidded off the runway onto the overrun. The pilot stated that the winds were out of 300 degrees at 17 knots, with gusts to 30 knots. The pilot indicated that he felt like he had taken every precaution and that the cause of the accident was the gear starting to slide on the painted surface which was slick in spots from an earlier rain storm. The pilot stated that after being cleared by the tower to taxi into position and hold on runway 30, the aircraft began to skid on the threshold markings. The right wing raised up and the airplane came to rest on the left wing and propeller. The winds were reported to be out of 300 degrees at 17 knots, with gusts to 30 knots. The airplane continued to skid off the runway onto the overrun. The pilot stated that he felt like he had taken every precaution and that the accident was a result of the gear sliding on the painted surface of the threshold which was slick in spots from an earlier rain storm. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1996_IAD96LA066.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
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Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type. Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
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