WPR11CA251
2011-05-19 · Torrance, California, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport KTOA
Current FAA registration · N81235
- Make / Model
- BOEING B75N1
- Year of manufacture
- 1943 · 68 years old at event
- Engine
- CONT MOTOR W670 SERIES (250 hp)
- Seats / Engines
- 2 seats · 1 engine
- Last airworthiness date
- 19780201
- ADS-B equipped
- Yes — Mode-S AB13A9
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot's inadequate compensation for wind conditions.
Factual narrative
The pilot was entering the pattern with the intent to land when the wind direction shifted and the air traffic controller requested the pilot land on the opposite runway. According to the pilot on short final at approximately 20 feet above ground level, the airplane experienced a wind shear and the plane landed hard on the runway. Subsequently the airplane turned sharply left causing the right lower wing to contact the runway, damaging the main spar. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe and engine that would have precluded normal flight. The pilot was entering the traffic pattern with the intent to land, when the wind direction shifted and the air traffic controller requested the pilot land on the opposite runway. According to the pilot, when the airplane was on final approach at approximately 20 feet above ground level, it experienced windshear and landed hard on the runway. Subsequently the airplane turned sharply left causing the right lower wing to contact the runway, damaging the main spar. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal flight. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12
NTSB Findings
FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.
- C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Incorrect action performance-Pilot - C
- C Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Windshear-Response/compensation - C
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2011_WPR11CA251.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
Search this event elsewhere
External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.
- TallyAero Live Wire Aviation press
- NTSB CAROL Agency ↗
- NTSB Docket Agency ↗
- Aviation Safety Network Aviation press ↗
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Related research
Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (wind shear). All research papers
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Conference Paper Optimal recovery from microburst wind shear
The flight path of a twin-jet transport aircraft is optimized in a microburst encounter during approach to landing. The objective is to execute an escape maneuver that maintains safe ground clearance …
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Contractor Report (CR) An Examination of Aviation Accidents Associated with Turbulence, Wind Shear and Thunderstorm
The focal point of the study reported here was the definition and examination of turbulence, wind shear and thunderstorm in relation to aviation accidents.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Conference Paper Analysis of extreme wind shear
New methods utilizing extreme value statistical theory are applied in the analysis of the largest wind component shear in a wind profile as a function of shear layer thickness and season.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Technical Memorandum (TM) Probabilities of zero wind shear phenomena based on Rawinsonde data records
Probabilities of zero wind shear occurence and depth based on rawinsonde data records
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Contractor Report (CR) A Wind Shear Mechanism for Producing Sporadic E by Concentrating Minor Meteoric Ions
Wind shear mechanism for producing sporadic E layer by concentrating minor meteoric ions
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Technical Memorandum (TM) Some aspects of wind shear in the upper atmosphere
Hydrodynamic turbulence and wind shear in upper atmosphere