Cessna 175 N9388B accident near Willimantic, Connecticut

Probable cause

The pilot’s failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll, which resulted in a ground loop.

NTSB analysis

The private pilot was landing the tailwheel-equipped airplane on a paved runway. During the landing roll, a ground witness heard a “shimmy” when the tailwheel made contact with the paved surface. The airplane departed the right side of the runway into grass, where it ground-looped. Postaccident examination revealed that the tailwheel’s left side mounting bolts were found stripped, and the tailwheel was canted to the right; however, there were no wear signatures on the tire to indicate that it had contacted the runway in a canted position. Based on the available information, it is most likely that the tailwheel mounting bolts were damaged during the accident sequence as a result of side-loading forces that occurred when the pilot failed to maintain directional control during the landing.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for ERA13LA343 for the full record.