Pilot Debrief

CESSNA 175 near Willimantic, CT — 2013-07-27

Final reportERA13LA343
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Date
2013-07-27
Location
Willimantic, CT, USA
Airport
IJD
Aircraft
CESSNA 175
Registration
N9388B
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Landing

Probable cause

The pilot’s failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll, which resulted in a ground loop.

NTSB narrative

The private pilot was landing the tailwheel-equipped airplane on a paved runway. During the landing roll, a ground witness heard a “shimmy” when the tailwheel made contact with the paved surface. The airplane departed the right side of the runway into grass, where it ground-looped. Postaccident examination revealed that the tailwheel’s left side mounting bolts were found stripped, and the tailwheel was canted to the right; however, there were no wear signatures on the tire to indicate that it had contacted the runway in a canted position. Based on the available information, it is most likely that the tailwheel mounting bolts were damaged during the accident sequence as a result of side-loading forces that occurred when the pilot failed to maintain directional control during the landing.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Mechanical failure
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have inspected tailwheel before landing to prevent failure.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • Photos
  • 6 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents6

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