Before attempting to land his Beech 23 on the 3,001-foot-long, asphalt runway at the airport in Spruce Pines, N.C., the pilot had been advised by personnel at the airport that landing toward the upsloping direction of the runway was preferred.
He did not check the wind direction prior to landing, and during the landing flare, the airplane did not slow down or descend.
He added full flaps, but the airplane continued to float and touched down with about 200 feet of remaining runway.
The airplane overran the runway end, proceeded through the airport perimeter fence, traveled down an embankment, and came to rest on a road.
The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, while the pilot sustained minor injuries.
Following the accident, the pilot reported that he believed a tailwind was likely present during the landing attempt.
Probable Cause: The pilot’s failure to familiarize himself with the wind conditions at the destination airport and his failure to attain the proper touchdown point during landing, which resulted in a long, tailwind landing and subsequent runway overrun.
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This October 2020 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.
Made several non-stop trips from kege to ktex, prior to the dip in the
Ktex runway being leveled. Real fun in a hi-performance jet, with 6 avid Skiers, as you may imagine !!!!!
I will land downwind if the situation requires it: e.g. the only IFR approach to the airport will result in such a situation. However, you have to have your ‘stuff’ together during the execution…
Pilot states advised to land on 35 due to slope being 3º up. Airport advises TO the opposite direction due to slope down and hills off end of 35. This is a Beech 23, not a stellar performing aircraft in climb and not so easy to land, so maybe that was in the mind’s back. Not nearly as forgiving as a 172. Glad he lived to walk away even tho he does not recall doing that.
Avery County airport elevation is 2745ft. Density altitude was also a factor.
There are times to admit an “Ah, S–t!”, and go around. This was one of them!
Part of the ACS should be training on downwind landings so that pilots will learn to recognize it when they are wondering why their plan won’t land. It’s amazing how much a 5 kt tailwind will affect aircraft performance. Pilots have died over a 5 kt tailwind.
Per the POH, a no flap landing will increase the distance from 50 ft ,2,200 ft, by 50%, or a total of 3,000+. then with a 5 kt tailwind add another 25%, or 700 ft.
Then, landing at 80 kts vs the POH spec of 65 kts, will add more landing distance.
So, the way he operated the aircraft , there was no way he would be able to land in 3,000 ft.
Whoever trained him the fly this aircraft did poorly, if he got training at all . ?
All very sad, and a wrecked a/c.
Even the most highly trained can chuck it all out the window and make poor decisions. It happens all too frequently.
So, approach fast, with minimum flaps, land way long on a 3,000 ft runway….what could go wrong ? No decision to go-around.
Note that the stated wind was a max of 5 kts tailwind… not a huge problem, usually.
A low time pilot with lower time in type… and now a wrecked aircraft.