Event WPR25LA059

Factual narrative

The pilot of the tailwheel equipped airplane reported that during a formation takeoff, the airplane began to veer left, and he lifted off earlier than the lead airplane to maintain directional control. After an uneventful flight, during landing, the airplane began to track violently to the left, despite the pilot’s control inputs. The airplane exited the left side of the runway, and as it was almost stopped, veered to the right onto the runway surface, and came to rest upright. During the accident sequence, the lower left wing struck the ground, which resulted in substantial damage to the left aileron. Upon exiting the airplane, the pilot observed the left main tire was deflated and partially separated from the wheel assembly. Inspection of the runway environment revealed that there was a thick skid mark from where the airplane’s left tire touched down at the beginning of the runway. 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
• — Aircraft-Aircraft systems-Landing gear system-Tube-Failure