After completing one landing at the airport in Portland, Tennessee, the pilot decided he wanted to practice landing with a tailwind.
After departure he maneuvered to perform a circling power-off landing on the opposite end of the runway.
During the landing he touched down fast, about 500 feet from the departure end of the runway, bounced a few times, and then overran the runway.
He said he attempted to abort the landing after bouncing on the runway, but when he added power abruptly, the engine hesitated briefly, and the Cessna 182 hit terrain.
During the runway excursion, the airplane hit a fence and came to rest about 1,600 feet past the end of the runway.
The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings and fuselage.
The pilot observed winds about the time of the accident that were from the south at 10 knots, which would have resulted in a direct tailwind.
Probable cause: The pilot’s failure to perform a go-around in time to prevent a runway overrun and collision with terrain.
NTSB Identification: GAA15CA034
This April 2015 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.
Thanks for this story. When I have more logged hours it may inspire me to try a tailwind take-off in the mountains, or even a gear-up landing to see what happens. For now, though, I pretty much know how a tailwind landing works, WITHOUT touching down 500 feet into the slab…I did it by accident once. That was stupid enough for me.