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Atlas / NTSB / SEA06CA070

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event SEA06CA070

2006-03-31 Driggs, Idaho, United States Airport · DIJ None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N471AM

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

AVIAT AIRCRAFT INC A-1B

Year of manufacture

2004 · 2 years old at event

Engine

LYCOMING O-360 SERIES (180 hp)

Seats / Engines

2 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

20040623

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A5C4DD

Registrant of record

WELLS ALEX E

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll, which resulted in a loss of control and subsequent nose over. Contributing factors were the tailwind and the soft snow-covered terrain.

Factual narrative

On March 31, 2006, about 1045 mountain standard time, an Aviat A-1B airplane, N471AM, nosed over following a loss of control during the landing roll on runway 03 at the Driggs-Reed Memorial Airport, Driggs, Idaho. The private pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The airplane, which was registered to and operated by the pilot, sustained substantial damage. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local personal flight. The 14 CFR Part 91 flight departed from Driggs about 1020. According to the pilot, he was performing touch-and-go landings on runway 03. During the landing roll, he experienced a tailwind, and the airplane departed the right side of the runway. The airplane's wheels sank into snow about 12 inches deep, and the airplane nosed over. The right wing strut was bent, and the top of the vertical stabilizer and the rudder were crushed. The following wind conditions were recorded by the Automated Surface Observing Station at the airport: At 0956, wind from 360 degrees at 3 knots. At 1056, wind from 190 degrees at 11 knots. At 1112, wind from 200 degrees at 14 knots, remark wind shift at 1052. The pilot reported that after the accident, he was told that "the wind had shifted to about a 10 knot tailwind from that reported by the FBO and [he] was unprepared for this condition." According to the pilot, he was performing touch-and-go landings on runway 03. During the landing roll, he experienced a tailwind, and the airplane departed the right side of the runway. The airplane's wheels sank into snow about 12 inches deep, and the airplane nosed over. The right wing strut was bent, and the top of the vertical stabilizer and the rudder were crushed. The following wind conditions were recorded by the Automated Surface Observing Station at the airport: At 0956, wind from 360 degrees at 3 knots. At 1056, wind from 190 degrees at 11 knots. At 1112, wind from 200 degrees at 14 knots, remark wind shift at 1052. The pilot reported that after the accident, he was told that "the wind had shifted to about a 10 knot tailwind from that reported by the FBO and [he] was unprepared for this condition." Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2006_SEA06CA070.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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.

Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗