- Date
- September 8, 2007, 10:30 local (15:30 UTC)
- Place
- Lubbock, TX
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N72699Cessna 140
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 20, 2007
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Lubbock, Texas
- FAA report
- 20070908019279A
- Case key
- 66627
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 while landing. A contributing factor was the flight instructor's delay in taking remedial action.
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
A flight instructor was providing flight instruction to a commercial pilot leading to a tailwheel endorsement. Toward the end of the instructional period, the flight instructor demonstrated wheel landings, which the pilot receiving instruction was able to perform satisfactorily. The flight instructor reported that while executing another wheel landing on Runway 17, the commercial pilot started to lose directional control, overcorrected, and used excessive differential braking. The tailwheel-equipped airplane pitched forward and subsequently nosed-over, coming to rest in the inverted position. Runway 17 was reported to be 4,000-foot long by 75-foot wide. The winds were reported as calm and the asphalt runway was dry. The flight instructor added that the directional control could have been corrected with an application of power rather than by brake application. Additionally, the flight instructor reported that there were no anomalies or malfunctions in the airplane's flight controls or tailwheel steering system.
Factual narrative
A flight instructor was providing flight instruction to a commercial pilot leading to a tailwheel endorsement. Toward the end of the instructional period, the flight instructor demonstrated wheel landings, which the pilot receiving instruction was able to perform satisfactorily. The flight instructor reported that while executing another wheel landing on Runway 17, the commercial pilot started to lose directional control, overcorrected, and used excessive differential braking. The tailwheel-equipped airplane pitched forward and subsequently nosed-over, coming to rest in the inverted position. Runway 17 was reported to be 4,000-foot long by 75-foot wide. The winds were reported as calm and the asphalt runway was dry. The flight instructor added that the directional control could have been corrected with an application of power rather than by brake application. Additionally, the flight instructor reported that there were no anomalies or malfunctions in the airplane's flight controls or tailwheel steering system.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N72699
- Reported as
- Cessna 140
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 9875
- Airframe hours
- 3,262
- Engine
- Continental C85, 85 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 1, 2007
- Departed
- LBB · Lubbock, TX
- Destination
- F83 · Abernathy, TX
- Airport
- F83 · Abernathy Muni, runway 17, 4,000 × 75 ft, asphalt
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
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 65
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- December 1, 2004
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 2,386 total · 1,198 in this make and model · 2,284 as pilot in command · 7 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Pilot
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Seat
- Left
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 0° at 0 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,400 ft broken
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.09 inHg
- Observed at
- KLBB, 11 nm away
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 N72699 · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.