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WPR23LA179

2023-05-05 · North Las Vegas, Nevada, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport VGT

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s failure to maintain directional control during landing in gusting wind conditions, which resulted in a ground loop.

Factual narrative

The pilot of the tailwheel-equipped airplane reported that, during the landing rollout, he encountered a gusting right crosswind that lifted the right wing. As the airplane weathervaned to the right, the pilot applied left rudder input, but was unable to maintain directional control. The airplane veered off the runway to the right and subsequently ground looped, resulting in substantial damage to the left wing. 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

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-Directional control-Not attained/maintained
  • — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Gusts-Response/compensation

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2023_WPR23LA179.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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