- Date
- April 27, 2005, 17:30 local (22:30 UTC)
- Place
- Lyndon, KS
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N74849Whittman Tailwind
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 7, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20050427007489A
- Case key
- 61445
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 improper recovery from a bounced landing, and his inadequate compensation for a tailwind, which resulted in a loss of control and subsequent collision with the ground. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's selection of a wrong runway, the tailwind, trees, and the pond.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The amateur-built experimental airplane sustained substantial damage when it nosed over after an aborted landing on runway 16. The pilot reported that he bounced the airplane during landing and he attempted to abort the landing. When he "throttled up to go around," the left wing "dropped" and the crosswind blew the airplane to the left of the runway. He saw trees and a pond ahead so he shut down the engine. The airplane hit on the landing gear but the airplane flipped over during the landing roll. The pilot reported that he had a total of 407 flight hours and 1.7 hours in make and model. The pilot reported the winds were from 270 degrees. The observed winds at the Philip Billard Municipal Airport (TOP), Topeka, Kansas, about 30 nautical miles north of 39K, were 290 degrees at 8 knots.
Factual narrative
On April 27, 2005, at 1730 central daylight time, an amateur-built experimental Whittman Tailwind, N74849, sustained substantial damage when it nosed over after an aborted landing on runway 16 (2,160 feet by 60 feet, turf/grass) at the Pomona Lake Airport (39K), Lyndon, Kansas. The private pilot was not injured. The 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight departed 39K at 1700 on a local flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. No flight plan was filed.
The pilot reported that he bounced the airplane during landing and he attempted to abort the landing. He reported that he "throttled up to go around" but the left wing "dropped" and the crosswind blew the airplane to the left of the runway. He reported that he saw trees and a pond ahead so he shut down the engine. He reported the airplane hit on the landing gear but the airplane flipped over.
The pilot reported that he had a total of 407 flight hours and 1.7 hours in make and model.
The pilot reported the winds were from 270 degrees. The observed winds at the Philip Billard Municipal Airport (TOP), Topeka, Kansas, about 30 nautical miles north of 39K, were 290 degrees at 8 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N74849
- Reported as
- Whittman Tailwind
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- WH-1
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Gregory G. Whittaker
- Registered owner
- Arthur Schefler
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- 39K · Lyndon, KS
- Airport
- 39K · Pomona Lake Airport, runway 16
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
- 63
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 407 total · 2 in this make and model · 4 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N74849 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.