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WPR10CA176

2010-03-23 · Fallbrook, California, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport L18

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s failure to maintain directional control of the airplane during landing.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that he felt a slight wind gust on touchdown. The landing was smooth, and occurred in the first 1/3 of the runway. When the nose wheel made contact with the runway, the airplane veered left. The pilot applied right rudder and braking in an attempt to correct the airplane, but before it stopped, the airplane veered off the runway, went down an embankment, and nosed over. No mechanical malfunctions or failures were found during the post accident examination of the airplane. The pilot reported that he felt a slight wind gust on touchdown. The landing was smooth and occurred in the first 1/3 of the runway. When the nosewheel made contact with the runway, the airplane veered left. The pilot applied right rudder and braking in an attempt to correct the airplane, but before it stopped the airplane veered off the runway, went down an embankment, and nosed over. No mechanical malfunctions or failures were found during the postaccident examination of the airplane. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2010_WPR10CA176.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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