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Atlas / NTSB / WPR25LA014

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event WPR25LA014

2024-10-12 Seattle, Washington, United States Airport · BFI None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N185WK

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

CESSNA A185E

Year of manufacture

1970 · 54 years old at event

Engine

CONT MOTOR IO-520-D (300 hp)

Seats / Engines

6 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

20240221

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A1553D

Registrant of record

INTREPID AIR LLC

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s failure to maintain directional control during landing roll with a crosswind.

Factual narrative

According to the pilots of the tailwheel-equipped airplane, the pilot/owner offered to let the second pilot land the airplane. During the landing, the airplane landed hard, bounced, and began to yaw to the right. Both pilots then applied control inputs to regain control of the airplane, however the airplane ground looped to the right. Subsequently, the airplane’s left main landing gear collapsed, and the left wing impacted the ground, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage and left wing. At the time of the accident, the pilots were landing on runway 14L with wind from 240° at 5 knots. The pilots reported 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).

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

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2024_WPR25LA014.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.