PORT TOWNSEND, WA, USA
N4994A
Cessna 180
The pilot, who was flying a tailwheel-equipped aircraft, thought he was landing into a quartering headwind. But according to pilot-rated witnesses, the wind shifted just prior to the aircraft crossing the threshold. After the aircraft touched down, the tailwind lifted its tail into the air, and the pilot began having difficulty maintaining directional control. During his attempts to remain aligned with the runway, the aircraft departed the side runway surface, and encountered soft, wet terrain. Soon after encountering the soft terrain, one of the main gear legs separated from the aircraft.
On March 10, 2000, approximately 1645 Pacific standard time, a Cessna 180, N4994A, experienced a gear collapse during the landing roll at Jefferson County International Airport, Port Townsend, Washington. The private pilot, who was the sole occupant, was not injured, but the aircraft, which was owned in partnership by the pilot and another individual, sustained substantial damage. The 14 CFR Part 91 pleasure flight, which departed Snohomish County Airport, Everett, Washington, about 30 minutes earlier, was being operated in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan had been filed, and there was no report of an ELT activation. According to the pilot, he was landing on runway 26 into what he thought was a quartering headwind. After the aircraft touched down in a three-point attitude, it bounced back into the air and started drifting to the right. When it touched down a second time, the wind, which was now blowing from behind the aircraft, lifted the tail in the air, resulting in the pilot having difficulty maintaining directional control. The aircraft continued to the right, and the pilot began to apply braking and corrective action in an attempt to maintain alignment with the runway. During his attempts to get the aircraft to track back toward the center of the runway, it departed the right side of the runway and encountered soft, wet terrain. After encountering the soft terrain, one of the aircraft's main gear separated from the airframe and one wing impacted the ground. Pilot-rated witnesses to the accident said that there were variable winds blowing at the time, and that the wind shifted from a quartering headwind to a quartering tailwind just prior to the aircraft crossing the threshold.
The pilot's failure to adequately compensate for changing wind conditions during the landing roll in a tailwheel-equipped aircraft. Factors include a variable, shifting wind that changed from a quartering headwind to a quartering tailwind just prior to the aircraft touching down on the runway, and soft, wet terrain just off the edge of the runway surface.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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