According to the sport pilot, while turning from the left base to the final leg of the approach for Runway 2 in Kill Devil Hills, N.C., with engine power reduced to “near” idle, a gust of wind came from the right and the Allegro 2000 lost altitude.
He attempted to recover the altitude loss by rolling the airplane to a wing level attitude and adding full power, however, the plane hit the top of a tree, then hit the ground in a nose-down attitude, resulting in two serious injuries.
A post-accident examination by an FAA inspector revealed that the wings, fuselage, and tail section were substantially damaged.
Around the time of the accident, the wind at the airport was from 20° at 12 knots with gusts to 19 knots.
The NTSB determined the probable cause as the pilot’s failure to maintain control of the airplane during the landing approach in gusty wind conditions.
NTSB Identification: ERA14CA165
This March 2014 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.
Well, in gusty wind approaches I personally always use some power to stabilize the approach. Never get to anxious with the over use of flaps.
Remember, as long as the engine is running you can always go-a-round and do it over.
Imagine that, gusty winds at Kill Devil Hills which is why Orville and Wilbur went there to test their flyer over a hundred years ago. There’s consolation in knowing some things just never change including mishaps from said winds. It happened to Orville and Wilbur as well.
“Strong gust of wind from the —” ANYTIME the wind is strong, plan on landing INTO the wind. Alter your actions to obtain this. There is almost ALWAYS some reasonable way to accomplish this, from using the “proper” runway, even requesting something different if the control tower is “dictating” what is to be used.
Remember that YOU are in charge. YOU are in command. Everyone else is only advisors.
In severe conditions, I have landed on taxiways. I have landed on expansive tiedown areas. I have even landed ACROSS a runway. Literally hovered down in a Taylorcraft.
Landing into any severe wind is a no-brainer. Do not land any way except INTO that wind. Do whatever is necessary to accomplish that. Don’t be hardwired into doing what is obviously unsafe, just because someone else tells you to.
Landing into any wind is basically easy, because your ground speed is dramatically reduced while all controls are fully effective. Landing in a strong crosswind ——that takes a pilot with real cahones, experience, and abilities. And the real explanation of a great pilot is one who uses his experience, ability, and talent to avoid getting into situations where he has to demonstrate those talents.
This crash is what helped shutter the B-Bar-D flight school. It also wasn’t the first time someone had crashed that aircraft. I hope the Pilot and passenger were able to fully recover. I believe one of them cracked their skull. So, it wasn’t something to walk away from.