NTSB CAROL · Event
Event WPR21LA260
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot’s decision to takeoff with a tailwind, which resulted in an impact with terrain.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that, after an aborted takeoff, he taxied to the end of the runway and turned around for departure even though the windsock still favored a takeoff from the opposite runway. The pilot decided he had enough runway and initiated a takeoff. The airplane lifted off and was out of ground effect when the pilot felt that there might have been a tailwind gust as the airplane lost airspeed and subsequently impacted the terrain just north of the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions 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).
- — Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Decision making/judgment-Pilot
- — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Tailwind-Effect on equipment
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2021_WPR21LA260.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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