This October 2008 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
Aircraft: Cessna 170. Injuries: None. Location: Butler, Mo. Aircraft damage: Substantial.
What reportedly happened: The student pilot was attempting to land the tailwheel-equipped airplane in gusty crosswinds. He lost directional control of the airplane and veered off the 4,000-foot by 75-foot runway. The airplane hit a bump and then ground looped. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane.
Probable cause: The pilot’s failure to maintain directional control and his failure to compensate for wind conditions which resulted in a ground loop.
For more information: NTSB.gov
I have read the “accident” report above with interest. It is yet another result of “poor/inadequate flight instruction”! In this case the lack of instruction was in crosswind technique for tailwheel aircraft. Landing tailwheel aircraft in crosswinds is the most difficult maneuver for this design of aircraft and “special instruction” is necessary in order to master it adequately. Operating tailwheel aircraft in “windy/gusty” conditions is far more difficult than that in tricycle aircraft. The Cessna 170 is the “most forgiving” of all the tailwheel aircraft I have ever flown and/or instructed in and that is many. Whenever there are winds that are strong and gusty, the operator of a tailwheel aircraft must posses and exercise the “greatest skill” possible, in order to preclude an accident. Anyone, who owns, intends to own or plans to use a tailwheel aircraft, “must” get “specialized/adequate instruction” in flying that aircraft before they venture out. It is my view that the pilot of the above aircraft had not done so, otherwise the outcome would have been considerably different. The same is true for those who intend to fly into or across mountainous terrain, who have never been exposed to it during their student pilot period. There have always been as high incidence of crashes, associated with mountain operations, by those unaccustomed to flying in them. Seems nobody ever told them it would be different and like operating tailwheel aircraft in gusty or crosswinds, it is very different and requires specialized training…beforehand.