# NTSB ANC09LA053: Cessna 170B, N2783D, Anchorage, AK, June 11, 2009

- Type: NTSB accident investigation
- Classification: Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report
- Date: June 11, 2009, 07:00 local (15:00 UTC)
- Place: Anchorage, AK
- Coordinates: 61.213611, -149.844451
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=61.2136&lon=-149.8445&mi=10
- Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping)
- Defining event: [Landing: Loss of control on ground](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/230)
- Highest injury: No injuries
- Injuries: 2 uninjured
- Status: Completed, report April 22, 2010
- Report: Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office: Alaska Regional Office
- Parties: FAA FSDO
- NTSB case key (mKey): 74016
- NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ANC09LA053
- NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/74016/pdf
- NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=74016
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC09LA053

## Probable cause

The flight instructor's decision to land with a tailwind, and his failure to maintain directional control during landing, resulting in a ground-loop and nose-over.

## Findings

NTSB's coded findings; those marked are part of the probable cause.

- [Performance/control parameters: directional control](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062020): Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability · Not attained/maintained (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 170B, 74 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062020/cases.md?model=2072306), [All aircraft, 3,958 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062020/cases.md)
- [Info processing/decision: decision making/judgment](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02041520): Personnel issues › Action/decision · Instructor/check pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 170B, 15 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02041520/cases.md?model=2072306), [All aircraft, 3,098 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02041520/cases.md)
- [Use of equip/info: aircraft control](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040): Personnel issues › Task performance · Instructor/check pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 170B, 91 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040/cases.md?model=2072306), [All aircraft, 9,295 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040/cases.md)
- [Wind: tailwind](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03034015): Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena · Decision related to condition; cases with it: [Cessna 170B, 12 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03034015/cases.md?model=2072306), [All aircraft, 594 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03034015/cases.md)

## Sequence of events

The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened.

- [Landing: Loss of control on ground](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/230) (defining event); cases with it: [Cessna 170B, 84 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/230/sequence.md?model=2072306), [All aircraft, 4,585 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/230/sequence.md)
- [Landing: Nose over/nose down](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/096); cases with it: [Cessna 170B, 29 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/096/sequence.md?model=2072306), [All aircraft, 2,287 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/096/sequence.md)

## Analysis

The flight instructor was returning from the practice area with his student on a Title 14, CFR part 91, instructional flight. The flight instructor said he landed the tailwheel-equipped airplane with a 8-11 knot quartering tailwind. He said as the airplane slowed, the tailwind blew the nose to the right, resulting in a ground-loop and nose-over. He also reported that the accident could have been prevented by not landing with a tailwind.

## Factual narrative

On June 11, 2009, about 0700 Alaska daylight time, a tailwheel-equipped Cessna 170B airplane, N2783D, sustained substantial damage during a nose-over during landing at Merrill Field, Anchorage, Alaska. The airplane was being operated by the student pilot owner as a visual flight rules (VFR) dual instruction flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The flight instructor and student pilot were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local flight. During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) on June 12, the student pilot owner said the instructor was on the controls and landed hard. He said the airplane bounced, touched down again, veered off the runway, and nosed over. The owner said the airplane received damage to both wings, lift struts and the fuselage during the accident. He said there were no known mechanical problems with the airplane prior to the accident. In a written statement to the NTSB dated November 4, 2009, the instructor wrote that he landed the airplane with a quartering tailwind of about 8-11 knots, and that as the airplane slowed the tailwind blew the nose to the right, resulting in a ground-loop and nose-over. He further reported that the accident could have been prevented by not landing with a tailwind.

## Aircraft

- Registration: [N2783D](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N2783D-2020-10-31), registration cancelled 2020-10-31, S/N 25325, built 1952 (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: CESSNA 170B
- Registry model: [Cessna 170B](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-170b) (registry code 2072306) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: [Continental C145 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-c145-series) (registry code 17012, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs)
- Category: Airplane
- Serial number: 25325
- Engines: CONT MOTOR C145 SERIES 145 horsepower reciprocating
- Damage: Substantial damage
- Flight: Instructional, Part 91
- Operator: Lund Bryan D
- Registered owner: Lund Bryan D
- Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal
- Departed: PAMR, Anchorage, AK
- Destination: PAMR, Anchorage, AK
- Airport: PAMR, Merrill Field, runway 07, 4,000 × 100 ft, asphalt

## Flight crew

As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.

- Flight instructor; age 31; injuries: none; commercial, flight instructor; airplane ratings: single-engine land, multi-engine land, single-engine sea; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 1, with waivers/limitations; last flight review June 1, 2008; seat: right; flight hours: 1,200 total, 12 in this make and model, 1,100 as pilot in command, 40 in the last 90 days, 30 in the last 30 days
- Student pilot; injuries: none; seat: left; flight hours: 10 total, 10 in this make and model

## Weather

- Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day
- Wind: 280° at 8 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling: none
- Temperature: 50 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter: 29.96 inHg
- Observed at: PAMR

## FAA reports on this event (1)

The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs).

- [Accident 20090611025839A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20090611025839A), Jun 11, 2009: Cessna 170B, Anchorage, AK, Substantial damage. Student pilot [privacy data omitted] reported he and CFI [privacy data omitted] departed runway 25 @ appx. 5.45 am and flew to practice area on west side of…

## Other investigations on N2783D (1)

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

- [NTSB DEN66D0348](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/DEN66D0348), May 22, 1966: Cessna 170B (N2783D), Otis, CO, substantial damage

## Docket (1 files)

The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 28, 2010, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=74016. 904 KB in all.

- Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report, NTSB Form 6120.1 (Partial) (item 1, .PDF, 904 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40324713&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Pilot%2FOperator%20Aircraft%20Accident%20Report,%20NTSB%20Form%206120.1%20(Partial)-Redacted.PDF

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

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