Cessna 170 N8335A accident near Sidney, Montana

Probable cause

The student pilot’s improper landing flare, which resulted in a bounced landing, and the flight instructor’s inability to recover the airplane, which resulted in a runway excursion.

NTSB analysis

The flight instructor reported that, during the instructional flight in a tailwheel-equipped airplane, the student pilot bounced the landing. The airplane bounced off the grass airstrip, and the flight instructor took the flight controls, but the airplane drifted to the left and into a drainage ditch. The flight instructor reported that he corrected with right rudder application to ease the airplane out of the ditch, but the left landing gear tire deflated, and the left wing and the tail struck the ground. The airplane yawed to the left, the instructor corrected the yaw, and the airplane rolled onto the runway and stopped. The left wing, left aileron, and the elevator sustained substantial damage.

The flight instructor reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or anomalies with the airplane that would have prevented normal operation.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for GAA16CA492 for the full record.