Taylorcraft BC12 N43766 accident near Readington, New Jersey

Probable cause

The pilot's failure to land on the mowed turf runway, which resulted in the airplane landing in tall grass and subsequently nosing over.

NTSB analysis

The pilot performed two landings on a turf runway and returned for a third approach. The pilot aligned the airplane parallel to the intended runway, about 80 feet to the left of the mowed runway surface. The airplane touched down in dense grass about 3-4 feet tall and travelled about 80 feet before it nosed over and came to rest inverted. The pilot insisted that the brakes had "locked;" however, examination of the airplane revealed that with the brakes fully applied there was little to no braking action and that the airplane rolled with little to no resistance. The accident is consistent with the airplane nosing over due to the landing in tall grass.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for ERA19LA199 for the full record.