- Date
- September 4, 2019, 11:30 local (15:30 UTC)
- Place
- Winfield, AL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N7326HPiper J3C
- Defining event
- Taxi: Nose over/nose down
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 17, 2020
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20190904012589A
- Case key
- 100239
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 proper wind correction input during taxi in a gusting tailwind, 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 the tailwheel-equipped airplane reported that, while taxiing for takeoff, a tailwind gust lifted the tail and the airplane nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing, right wing lift strut, and the rudder. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot reported that, about the time of the accident, the wind was light and variable, gusting to 15 knots. The pilot was back taxiing to the south.
Factual narrative
The pilot of the tailwheel-equipped airplane reported that, while taxiing for takeoff, a tailwind gust lifted the tail and the airplane nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing, right wing lift strut, and the rudder. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot reported that, about the time of the accident, the wind was light and variable, gusting to 15 knots. The pilot was back taxiing to the south.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7326H
- Reported as
- Piper J3C (65)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 20588
- Built
- 1946
- Airframe hours
- 1,687.8
- Engine
- Continental A-65-8, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 4, 2019
- Departed
- AL54 · Winfield, AL
- Airport
- AL54 · Bird Nest, runway 35, 2,200 × 80 ft, grass/turf
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS
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
- 66
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Private
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 18, 2019
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 1,110 total · 57 in this make and model · 1,014 as pilot in command · 51 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 93 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.04 inHg
- Observed at
- KJFX, 27 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 26, 2019, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.2 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.