The private pilot and mechanic were performing a flight in the Cessna 150 following the completion of an annual inspection.
After takeoff the pilot flew in the traffic pattern at the airport in Pink Hill, North Carolina, departed the area, then elected to return.
While on final approach to land, when the airplane was about 30 feet from the runway threshold, the pilot stated that the airplane was struck by a downdraft.
He remembered briefly hearing the stall warning horn but did not recall if he applied power, adding, “I guess I froze.”
The airplane hit the ground short of the runway in a bean field, collided with a ditch, then nosed over, coming to rest inverted on the runway. The vertical stabilizer was substantially damaged.
The pilot and mechanic sustained minor injuries.
Probable Cause: The pilot’s inadequate compensation for prevailing wind conditions during the landing approach, which resulted in the airplane contacting the ground short of the runway.
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This August 2023 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.
If I found the correct location of the airstrip (3.3 miles northeast of Pink Hill, NC), I see a possible explanation for the downdraft. The approach is over the bean field which under the right conditions can produce an updraft. The first thousand feet of the runway is cut through a heavily wooded area, which under the right conditions could have produced an invisible sudden downdraft on short final. A reminder that on short final, adjustments have to be made sometimes in a split second.