Event WPR20CA043

Factual narrative

According to the pilot, after an uneventful flight, he verified the current weather conditions about 10 miles from the airport and subsequently entered the airport traffic pattern, at which point he elected to conduct a "grass landing." The airplane touched down normally, but during the landing roll he observed an obstacle in the middle of the "runway." The pilot was unable to react before the right main landing gear impacted a knoll and the airplane ground looped. The right main landing gear collapsed, and the right wing was substantially damaged. The airplane landed on an area of grass between the runway and taxiway when it impacted the grass knoll. According to the airport manager, pilots are advised to land and takeoff on published runways only as prescribed under the airport policy page of the airport's website. This information is not available in the airport's chart supplement. The pilot indicated that he checked the chart supplement for pertinent airport information, which did not include any restrictions about landing on the grass area between the taxiway and runway. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. According to the pilot, after an uneventful flight, he verified the current weather conditions about 10 miles from the airport and subsequently entered the airport traffic pattern, at which point he chose to land on a grassy area between the runway and taxiway. The airplane touched down normally, but during the landing roll, the pilot saw an obstacle in the middle of the grassy area. The pilot was unable to react before the right main landing gear impacted a knoll, and the airplane ground looped. The right main landing gear collapsed, and the right wing sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. 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-Info processing/decision-Decision making/judgment-Pilot - C
• C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained - C
• C Environmental issues-Physical environment-Runway/land/takeoff/taxi surface-(general)-Effect on operation - C