The pilot said he was approaching his airstrip in Quitman, Texas, at low speed with the Eros 1650R in the landing configuration when the wind “stopped.”
The airplane lost altitude and hit the top of a tree at the end of the runway. The airplane then hit the ground and nosed over. The pilot sustained serious injuries in the crash.
Probable cause: The pilot’s failure to maintain adequate airspeed for the approach to landing.
NTSB Identification: CEN15LA266
This June 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.
Everyone is so quick to judge. It could have been an actual case of wind shear and I could see how the pilot might describe the effect as “the wind stopped”. I’m guessing that little airstrip did not have any wind shear detection technology.
It still do`nt absolve the pilot from taking proper action during the landing approach,
a. ensure he understands the wind conditions at the airfield
b. always have a procedural landing approach plan
c. don`t allow the low and slow condition to develop
one can go on, and on here about setting up a landing approach
Hey Peter, Why do we take off against the wind?
You can take off without wind, even with a slight wind , just focus on flying and know your aircraft’s peramiters.
You fly in relative wind. Not a headwind. A headwind slows the plane in fact. We takeoff into wind because a tail wind can cause a loss of lift. You need to read up on that to understand why.
Hmmm, interesting, the wind stopped. At least it wasn’t a microburst.
Well, I guess we learn something new every day. I wasn’t aware you need to have wind in order to fly…
No such thing as the wind stopped. Was this guy a student? Had to be…
If you don’t believe that the wind starts and stops, changes directions, and the like, you need to study weather. And it might be good to study for the commercial written.
Why? At least one of the questions on that written involves what your airspeed indicator dropping by 10 Kts might mean while on your take-off roll (well it did before this current change to the tests started rolling out).
I’ve experienced a 10 MPH wind down the center of a runway suddenly go to 0MPH (all the wind socks went limp at the same time!!) while I was ~50′ AGL. The solution was full throttle. Still landed quite firmly, but we didn’t bounce.
Again, my point is, it happens. It isn’t if, it is when it happens to you, will you be ready?
The air is ALWAYS moving. But the concept that seems to escape some is the physics and aerodynamics of flight.
Thrust is what produces forward movement of the aircraft which causes air to flow over the wing and produce lift. Excess wind speeds above this dynamic on the nose actually affect ground speed (slows the plane) and if coming from the tail can disrupt the airflow over the wing and reduce lift.
This accident had nothing to do with the ‘wind stopping’ and even in calm condition the plane can only stop flying if inadequate thrust is applied or as some of guess there was a possible wind shear that may have disrupted airflow over the wing. Either way the real issue is thrust, not the wind.
It isn’t too uncommon for wind to shear from let’s say 10 knots to calm (i.e. stopped) at roughly tree-top level. With a proper approach descent, airspeed, and prompt adjustments in pitch and power, this shouldn’t be a problem. I’m sorry this accident resulted in injuries.