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WPR15CA100

2015-02-09 · Kernville, California, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport L05

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's inadequate flare and failure to maintain airplane control during the landing with a tailwind which resulted in a bounce, long landing, and subsequent runway excursion.

Factual narrative

The pilot made an approach for landing at an airport with a substantial tail wind. According to airport personnel, the wind was about 170 at 25 knots creating a tailwind component for landing. During the landing sequence, the airplane bounced and touched down further than normal. The airplane subsequently overran the departure end of the runway onto rough terrain, and nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings and fuselage. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot made an approach for landing on runway 35. According to airport personnel, the wind was about 170 at 25 knots creating a tailwind component for landing. During the landing sequence, the airplane bounced and touched down further than normal. The airplane subsequently overran the departure end of the runway onto rough terrain, and nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings and fuselage. 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 Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Landing flare-Not attained/maintained - C
  • — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Tailwind-Effect on equipment

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2015_WPR15CA100.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (runway excursion). All research papers