- Date
- July 21, 2020, 16:20 local (21:20 UTC)
- Place
- Cambridge, MN
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2943CCessna 180
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20200721011029A
- Case key
- 101650
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's loss of directional control while landing a tailwheel airplane with a slight left quartering a tailwind. Contributing to the accident was the flight instructor's delayed remedial action.
Findings · 4
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot and flight instructor conducted an instructional flight in a single-engine tailwheel airplane. The pilot had recently purchased the airplane and needed a tailwheel endorsement. After some ground instruction, they performed taxi and high-speed taxi operations in the airplane. They then flew to another airport, where they performed six take-off and landings to a full stop on a grass runway. En route back to their original airport, they stopped at another airport which had a grass runway and performed another seven takeoffs and landings. They then returned to the original airport, where the pilot completed a landing and takeoff from an asphalt runway. During the final landing to runway 34, the airplane bounced, and bounced a second time, before the airplane ground looped. The airplane came to rest inverted beside the runway, and substantial damage was noted to the airplane's empennage and wing. A review of the weather conditions about the time of the accident noted wind at 220 deg; at 5 kts. Using runway 34, the airplane would have experienced a slight quartering tailwind condition during landing.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2943C
- Reported as
- Cessna 180 (Undesignat)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 30843
- Built
- 1954
- Airframe hours
- 3,800
- Engine
- Continental O-470 SERIES, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 1, 2019
- Departed
- CBG · Cambridge, MN
- Destination
- CBG · Cambridge, MN
- Airport
- CBG · Cambridge Muncipal, runway 34, 4,001 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- ADS-B
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 48
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 24, 2020
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 529 total · 17.2 in this make and model · 480 as pilot in command · 72 in the last 90 days · 13 in the last 30 days · 2.2 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 70
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- July 7, 2020
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 6,200 total · 45 in this make and model · 5,933 as pilot in command · 70 in the last 90 days · 46 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.86 inHg
- Observed at
- KCBG
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 3, 2020, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 7.5 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.