Cessna 175B N8209T accident near Royal City, Washington

Probable cause

The pilot’s failure to maintain airplane control during a landing with a tailwind which resulted in excessive ground speed, runway over run and subsequent nose over.

NTSB analysis

The pilot reported that, he departed from the west runway of his private dirt airstrip earlier on the morning of the accident with a calm wind. Upon his return he decided that a landing to the east was appropriate. The approach was normal however, during the landing flare he realized the ground speed was excessively fast and the wind had shifted to a tailwind. The airplane touched down 400 ft beyond the landing threshold of the 1,500 ft long runway and was still traveling fast. As the end of the runway approached, he attempted to steer the airplane to the left. The airplane rolled to the right, struck a concrete block, and nosed over substantially damaging the wings. The landing strip was furnished with two windsocks, and the pilot reported that due to power lines at the end of the runway, a go-around was not possible. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

The closest official weather reporting station, about 32 miles northeast of the accident site, reported wind between 4 and 9 knots generally out of the southeast during the three-hour period leading up to the accident. However, about 40 minutes after the accident, an aviation special weather report (SPECI) was issued due to a significant change in weather, indicating that the wind had shifted and was now out of the southwest.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for WPR21LA182 for the full record.