- Date
- February 24, 2016, 11:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- Enumclaw, WA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N2715CCessna 170
- Defining event
- Taxi-from runway: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 3, 2016
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- Seattle FSDO (FAA)
- Case key
- 92782
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 incorrect brake application during taxi, which resulted in a nose over.
Findings · 3
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 of a tailwheel equipped airplane reported that during the taxi after landing, he "applied the brakes to slow down further" and suddenly the airplane nosed over. He further reported that he recently replaced the 29 inch Alaska Bushwheels with smaller 6.00x6 tires. According to the pilot, this made the Cleveland double puck brakes "very sensitive." A postaccident examination revealed substantial damage to the right wing and vertical stabilizer. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot of a tailwheel equipped airplane reported that during the taxi after landing, he "applied the brakes to slow down further" and suddenly the airplane nosed over. He further reported that he recently replaced the 29 inch Alaska Bushwheels with smaller 6.00x6 tires. According to the pilot, this made the Cleveland double puck brakes "very sensitive." A postaccident examination revealed substantial damage to the right wing and vertical stabilizer. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2715C
- Reported as
- Cessna 170 (B)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 26259
- Built
- 1954
- Engine
- Continental C-145, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- WA77 · Enumclaw, WA
- Destination
- WA77 · Enumclaw, WA
- Airport
- WA77 · Enumclaw, runway 07, 1,800 × 25 ft, gravel
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS, Onboard weather, Stall warning system
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
- 73
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 17, 2015
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 1,850 total · 250 in this make and model · 1,850 as pilot in command · 13.3 in the last 90 days · 4.8 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 8,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 52 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.20 inHg
- Observed at
- KPLU, 12 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 8, 2016, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.4 MB in all.