Event WPR10CA179

Factual narrative

The pilot of the tailwheel-equipped airplane completed a number of touch-and-go landings, and then made a full-stop landing so he could taxi to the parking area to talk with some friends. When he took off again a few minutes later to do one final landing before putting the airplane away, he discovered that the wind speed had picked up, and that he would be landing in a gusting crosswind. During the landing roll, which was along the leeward side of a row of hangars with occasional spaces between them, the airplane started turning toward the left side of the runway (into the wind). When the pilot found that full right brake and full right rudder was not enough to bring the airplane back to the right, he added a significant amount of engine power in an attempt to regain control. Although the airplane's ground track began to straighten after he added power, the pilot kept the right wheel brake fully applied, resulting in the airplane attaining a nose-down attitude, whereupon the propeller began hitting the runway surface. With the propeller hitting the runway surface, the pilot found it necessary to reduce power, and therefore the airplane turned further left, and its left main wheel departed the left edge of the runway onto some soft terrain. The left wheel then sank into the terrain, and with the right brake still fully applied, the airplane nosed over onto its back. The accident sequence resulted in substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer, left wing, and left wing lift strut. The pilot of the tailwheel-equipped airplane completed a number of touch-and-go landings, and then made a full-stop landing so that he could taxi to the parking area to talk with some friends. When he took off again a few minutes later to do one final landing before putting the airplane away, he discovered that the wind speed had picked up and that he would be landing in a gusting crosswind. During the landing roll, which was along the leeward side of a row of hangars with occasional spaces between them, the airplane started turning toward the left side of the runway (into the wind). When the pilot found that full right brake and full right rudder was not enough to bring the airplane back to the right, he added a significant amount of engine power in an attempt to regain control. Although the airplane's ground track began to straighten after he added power, the pilot kept the right-wheel brake fully applied, resulting in the airplane attaining a nose-down attitude, whereupon the propeller began hitting the runway surface. With the propeller hitting the runway surface, the pilot found it necessary to reduce power, and therefore the airplane turned further left, and its left main wheel departed the left edge of the runway onto soft terrain. The left wheel then sank into the terrain, and with the right brake still fully applied, the airplane nosed over onto its back. The accident sequence resulted in substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer, left wing, and left wing lift strut. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

• C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Incorrect action performance-Pilot - C
• — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Crosswind-Contributed to outcome
• — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Gusts-Contributed to outcome