The WACO YMF pilot departed from Runway 26, and flew over a local golf course, then turned to return to the airport in Somerville, N.J., where she entered the traffic pattern on the downwind leg for runway 26, flying between 75 and 80 knots.
She descended to 800 feet and, prior to turning base leg, she slowed to between 65 and 70 knots, which she maintained on base and final.
She turned onto base leg and descended to 500 feet and at that altitude turned onto final approach for runway 26 slowing at touchdown.
She performed a wheel landing a few feet farther along the runway than typical or “a little long,” which she described as abeam the western edge of the hangars.
The airplane travelled onto a portion of the runway that causes undulations and with aft stick applied after encountering the undulations, she tapped the brakes. The airplane then nosed over.
Various video recordings depicted the approach and nose-over sequence; however, the actual touchdown point was not captured.
An individual at the airport provided a reference for where the airplane came to rest, which was located before a diagonal line that is visible in a Google Earth image.
Plotting on Google Earth of the pilot’s reported touchdown point indicates that position was located about 800 feet down the 2,200-foot grass runway, which has the west 500 feet described as being unsuitable for takeoff or landing due to uneven surface.
Therefore, the pilot’s reported touchdown point occurred nearly halfway down the usable length of runway.
The NTSB determined the probable cause as the pilot’s failure to maintain control while applying wheel brakes during landing, resulting in the airplane nosing over.
NTSB Identification: ERA14CA012
This October 2013 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.
I was taught if it didn’t look good (flight path) on the approach then execute a go-around. As long as the engine is running you can go-around and start over. You should not try to force the plane onto the remaining portion of the runway.
The problem is that the approach and landing speeds were too high. There was enough runway left even if the touch down point was 800ft down the runway.
The approach speed should be 1.2 times the stall speed. My YMF stalls at 60 MPH so approach is 72 MPH. Of course the stall speed changes as weight increases and every airplane has a different stall speed. The point is know your airplane. When landing a different airplane take it out and find out what the stall speed is. Further do some slow flight to get the “picture”, and what every you do NEVER TOUCH THE BRAKES WHEN LANDING A WACO YMF! The C of G is high and the gear placement won’t allow braking when landing.