- Date
- September 6, 2021, 14:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Gunnison, CO
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N6XCAviat A-1
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: 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
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20210906015409A
- Case key
- 103808
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 failure to maintain directional control of the airplane after landing with a quartering tailwind.
Findings · 2
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 reported that he landed with a quartering tailwind. When the tailwheel touched down, the wind pushed the tail to the right and the airplane ground looped. The airplane came to rest upright off the left side of the runway and sustained substantial damage to the right wing and fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6XC
- Reported as
- Aviat A-1
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1383
- Built
- 1997
- Airframe hours
- 1,257.4
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1P, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 15, 2021
- Departed
- Rustler Canyon, UT
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- GUC · Gunnison-Crested Butte Rgnl, runway 17/35, 2,981 × 150 ft, grass/turf
- Equipment
- Electronic primary flight display, Stall warning system, ADS-B, Angle of attack indicator, Electronic multifunction display
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
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 36
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 9, 2021
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 318.5 total · 21.8 in this make and model · 318.5 as pilot in command · 55.4 in the last 90 days · 42 in the last 30 days · 4.8 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.35 inHg
- Observed at
- KGUC
- METAR
- KGUC 061956Z AUTO VRB05KT 10SM CLR 26/M02 A3035 RMK AO2 SLP205 T02561017
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 15, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.7 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.