# NTSB ERA26LA032: Cessna 140, N1860V, Suffolk, VA, November 6, 2025 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Class 4 · Limited · Final report - Date: November 6, 2025, 15:43 local (20:43 UTC) - Place: Suffolk, VA - Coordinates: 36.59281, -76.63779 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=36.5928&lon=-76.6378&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Defining event: [Landing: Nose over/nose down](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/096) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 2 uninjured - Status: Completed, report January 9, 2026 - Report: Approved by Office Director - Investigation class: Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish - NTSB office: Eastern Region Aviation - Parties: FAA/FSDO - NTSB case key (mKey): 201967 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ERA26LA032 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/201967/pdf - NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=201967 - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA26LA032 ## Probable cause The pilot’s failure to maintain control of the airplane during landing, which resulted in a nose over. ## Findings NTSB's coded findings; those marked are part of the probable cause. - [Use of equip/info: aircraft control](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040): Personnel issues › Task performance · Pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 140, 56 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040/cases.md?model=2071602), [All aircraft, 9,295 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040/cases.md) - [Performance/control parameters: surface speed/braking](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062045): Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability · Not attained/maintained (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 140, 8 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062045/cases.md?model=2071602), [All aircraft, 238 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062045/cases.md) ## Sequence of events The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened. - [Landing: Nose over/nose down](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/096) (defining event); cases with it: [Cessna 140, 49 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/096/sequence.md?model=2071602), [All aircraft, 2,287 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/096/sequence.md) ## Analysis The pilot of the tailwheel-equipped airplane was practicing touch-and-go landings on a private turf runway. Upon his third landing, he stated that the main landing gear seemed to be “digging into” the turf before the tail “rapidly” came up and the airplane nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer, rudder, and the fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Additionally, the pilot thought that the airplane’s parking brake might have been inadvertently engaged during the landing, but a postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that its parking brake had been removed at some point in the past. A functional test of the wheel brakes also confirmed that they operated normally. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N1860V](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N1860V), registered now, S/N 14039, built 1947 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: CESSNA 140 (UNDESIGNATED SERIES) - Registry model: [Cessna 140](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-140) (registry code 2071602) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Continental C85 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-c85-series) (registry code 17008, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 14039 - Year built: 1947 - Airframe hours: 4057 - Engines: CONTINENTAL MOTOR COMPANY C-85-12F 85 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Personal, Part 91 - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Last inspection: Annual, May 9, 2025 - Destination: Same as departure - Airport: VG37, Greenway Airfield, runway 01, 2,550 × 60 ft, grass/turf - Equipment: ADS-B, Electronic flight bag or handheld device ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 61; injuries: none; private; airplane ratings: single-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 3, without waivers/limitations; last flight review August 10, 2025; seat: left; restraint: 4-point; flight hours: 266 total, 39 in this make and model, 205 as pilot in command, 24 in the last 90 days, 6 in the last 30 days, 1 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 330° at 4 knots - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 61 °F, dew point 25 °F - Altimeter: 3019.00 inHg - Observed at: SFQ, 6 nm away - METAR: METAR KSFQ 062035Z AUTO 33004KT CLR 16/M04 A3019 ## 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 20251106018649A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20251106018649A), Nov 6, 2025: Cessna 140, Whaleyville, VA, Substantial damage. The pilot took the tail wheel plane for a recreational flight on an ideal day. When he returned to his home grass runway for a full stop, he said it felt as… ## Docket (4 files) The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 9, 2026, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=201967. 6.3 MB in all. - Pilot/operator aircraft accident report, NTSB form 6120.1 (item 1, PDF, 10 pages, 4.0 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=19670350&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=02-6120_1_Form-FilledOut-Signed-ERA26LA032-FixedFormat_Redacted-Rel.pdf - Memorandum for record a�� telephone interview, pilot (item 2, PDF, 1 page, 99 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=19632042&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=03-MOR%20-%20Pilot%20Interview_Redacted-Rel.pdf - Investigation photographs (item 3, PDF, 7 pages, 2.2 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=19631554&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=05-Photo%20array%20in%20PDF_Redacted-Rel.pdf - FAA inspector statement (item 4, PDF, 1 page, 92 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=19666267&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=04-MOR%20-%20Aircraft%20Examination-Rel.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. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.