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WPR21LA029

2020-10-27 · Richland, Washington, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport RLD

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s failure to maintain airplane control during landing, which resulted in a nose over.

Factual narrative

The pilot of the tailwheel-equipped airplane reported that, during a wheel landing, the airplane touched down on both main landing gear as he intended, and he applied some forward pressure on the flight stick to keep the weight off the tail. The pilot employed “adequate” brake pressure as he reduced power normally and the airplane started to slow. He then applied light brake pressure between the pedals to keep the airplane on the runway centerline before the tail touched down, but the airplane subsequently nosed over and came to rest inverted. The left wing and wing strut were substantially damaged. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical failures or malfunctions 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.

  • — Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot
  • — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Pitch control-Not attained/maintained

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2020_WPR21LA029.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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