- Date
- March 31, 2006, 10:45 local (17:45 UTC)
- Place
- Driggs, ID
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N471AMAviat A-1B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 29, 2006
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20060331003589A
- Case key
- 63428
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 during the landing roll, which resulted in a loss of control and subsequent nose over. Contributing factors were the tailwind and the soft snow-covered terrain.
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
According to the pilot, he was performing touch-and-go landings on runway 03. During the landing roll, he experienced a tailwind, and the airplane departed the right side of the runway. The airplane's wheels sank into snow about 12 inches deep, and the airplane nosed over. The right wing strut was bent, and the top of the vertical stabilizer and the rudder were crushed. The following wind conditions were recorded by the Automated Surface Observing Station at the airport: At 0956, wind from 360 degrees at 3 knots. At 1056, wind from 190 degrees at 11 knots. At 1112, wind from 200 degrees at 14 knots, remark wind shift at 1052. The pilot reported that after the accident, he was told that "the wind had shifted to about a 10 knot tailwind from that reported by the FBO and [he] was unprepared for this condition."
Factual narrative
On March 31, 2006, about 1045 mountain standard time, an Aviat A-1B airplane, N471AM, nosed over following a loss of control during the landing roll on runway 03 at the Driggs-Reed Memorial Airport, Driggs, Idaho. The private pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The airplane, which was registered to and operated by the pilot, sustained substantial damage. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local personal flight. The 14 CFR Part 91 flight departed from Driggs about 1020.
According to the pilot, he was performing touch-and-go landings on runway 03. During the landing roll, he experienced a tailwind, and the airplane departed the right side of the runway. The airplane's wheels sank into snow about 12 inches deep, and the airplane nosed over. The right wing strut was bent, and the top of the vertical stabilizer and the rudder were crushed.
The following wind conditions were recorded by the Automated Surface Observing Station at the airport: At 0956, wind from 360 degrees at 3 knots. At 1056, wind from 190 degrees at 11 knots. At 1112, wind from 200 degrees at 14 knots, remark wind shift at 1052. The pilot reported that after the accident, he was told that "the wind had shifted to about a 10 knot tailwind from that reported by the FBO and [he] was unprepared for this condition."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N471AM
- Reported as
- Aviat A-1B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 2271
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- DIJ · Driggs, ID
- Destination
- DIJ
- Airport
- DIJ · Driggs-Reed Memorial, runway 3
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
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 6,117 total · 11 in this make and model · 5 in the last 90 days · 5 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.