Cessna 172S N96FA accident near Death Valley, California

Probable cause

The pilot’s failure to maintain airspeed and encounter with a tailwind while landing on a rough runway, which resulted in a runway overrun and subsequent nose over.

NTSB analysis

The pilot flew over his destination airport, which featured a 3,065 ft long asphalt runway, noted to be in poor condition, to observe the windsock. The pilot determined that the windsock indicated calm wind and maneuvered the airplane for landing on runway 33. He extended the flaps to the full down position while on final approach. The pilot stated that the airplane touched down about 1,300 ft beyond the runway threshold, and that he applied maximum braking. During the landing roll, he realized that the airplane was not slowing down as he expected. The airplane subsequently overran the runway and nosed over, which resulted in substantial damage to both wing lift struts and the fuselage. The pilot added that a stronger-than-anticipated tailwind and the rough, uneven runway surface may have reduced braking effectiveness.

Flight data recovered from the airplane’s avionics revealed that the airplane landed on runway 33 with wind from about 174° at 17 knots. Additionally, the data revealed that as the airplane crossed over the threshold of the runway, the airplane’s indicated airspeed was about 74 knots and groundspeed about 93 knots.

The Pilot’s Operating Handbook specifies that, during a short-field landing, the airplane should be flown at 61 knots indicated airspeed when 50 ft above ground level. It further stated that, “for operation with tailwinds up to 10 knots, increase [landing] distances by 10% for each 2 knots.”

Post accident examination of the airplane revealed that there were now mechanical malfunctions or failures with the wing flaps that would have precluded normal operation.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for WPR26LA222 for the full record.