Cessna 140 N76688 accident near Lancaster, South Carolina

Probable cause

The pilot’s decision to land with a tailwind and his failure to turn off the carburetor heat during a go-around, which resulted in degraded engine performance and the airplane’s subsequent collision with trees at the end of the runway.

NTSB analysis

The pilot stated that before he departed for a local flight, the wind was “squirrelly and swapping around” and that at takeoff the wind favored runway 21. After flying for about 15 to 20 minutes, the pilot returned to the departure airport and flew over it to observe the windsock, which indicated the wind had shifted and now favored runway 3. He entered the airport traffic pattern for runway 3 and perceived that the ground speed was “a little fast” during the approach to land. He continued the approach and touched down about 1/3 down the runway and perceived that the groundspeed was now “real fast.” Because the airplane was tailwheel equipped, the pilot did not apply the brakes; instead, he added power to go around, reporting that the engine responded normally. The pilot said that the airplane barely cleared the power lines off the end of the runway with marginal airspeed, and then stalled/mushed into the trees beyond the power lines. The pilot also reported that he was not aware of any preimpact failure or malfunction that would have precluded normal operations of the airplane, engine, or engine systems.

A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the carburetor heat was on, the fuel selector was off, and the throttle was full forward. A weather observation taken about 23 minutes after the accident at an airport located about 13 nautical miles north of the accident airport indicated that the wind was from 200 degrees at 5 knots.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for ERA13CA208 for the full record.