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WPR13CA165

2013-03-23 · Bellingham, Washington, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport BLI

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll. Contributing to the accident was the flight instructor's delayed remedial action.

Factual narrative

The flight instructor reported that following a wheel landing in the tail-wheel equipped airplane by the pilot receiving instruction, the airplane began to drift left of the centerline. The pilot receiving instruction applied right rudder control inputs and the airplane veered to the right. Despite the flight instructor's control inputs to regain control, the airplane continued to the right and subsequently ground looped. The left wing and horizontal stabilizer struck the ground, which resulted in structural damage to the left horizontal stabilizer. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The flight instructor reported that the pilot receiving instruction conducted a wheel landing in the tailwheel-equipped airplane, and the airplane began to drift left of the centerline. The pilot receiving instruction applied right rudder control inputs, and the airplane veered to the right. Despite the flight instructor's control inputs to regain control, the airplane continued to the right and subsequently ground looped. The left wing and horizontal stabilizer struck the ground, which resulted in structural damage to the left horizontal stabilizer. . The flight instructor 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-Directional control-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
  • F Personnel issues-Psychological-Attention/monitoring-Monitoring other person-Instructor/check pilot - F

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2013_WPR13CA165.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type. All research papers