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WPR13CA089

2013-01-08 · Georgetown, California, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport E36

N70AC has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (CIRRUS DESIGN SR22T, built 2019), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s improper landing flare and failure to maintain directional control during landing.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that he intended to land the tail-wheel equipped airplane on a sloped asphalt runway that he had not landed at prior to the accident flight. The first landing attempt terminated with a go-around because he was not comfortable with the approach. The second approach was high and a little too fast which caused the airplane to float down the runway. When the airplane touched down it bounced; after a second bounce, the pilot applied brakes and corrective action. The airplane veered off the hard surface runway, encountered soft mud and subsequently nosed over substantially damaging the vertical stabilizer, rudder and elevator. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operations. The pilot reported that he intended to land the tailwheel-equipped airplane on a sloped asphalt runway that he had not landed at before the accident flight. The first landing attempt terminated with a go-around because he was not comfortable with the approach. The second approach was high and a little too fast, which caused the airplane to float down the runway. When the airplane touched down, it bounced; after a second bounce, the pilot applied increasingly aggressive braking for fear of overrunning the runway. The airplane veered off the hard surface runway, encountered soft mud, and subsequently nosed over, resulting in substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer, rudder, and elevator. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. 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-Landing flare-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-(general)-Pilot - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2013_WPR13CA089.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (go-around). All research papers