On February 18, 1993, a Cessna 340A (registration N2666J) operated by Omega Associates PA was involved in an aviation accident near Clovis, NM. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The pilot's decision to land on a runway with known icy and slippery conditions while experiencing a tailwind greater than reported, which led to a runway overrun. This summary draws on records from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) historical archive.
An airplane landed with 1,000 feet remaining on a slippery runway after a localizer approach, overrunning the departure end and striking the localizer antenna due to excessive tailwind.
What happened
The flight involved a localizer approach that concluded with a landing attempt on a runway characterized by icy and slippery conditions. The total length of the runway was 6,200 feet. Upon touchdown, the aircraft had approximately 1,000 feet of usable runway remaining. Despite this distance, the airplane continued along the centerline of the runway but failed to stop before reaching the departure end.
The aircraft overran the physical boundary of the runway and subsequently impacted the localizer antenna structure located at that end. The accident sequence was influenced by wind conditions at the time of the event. While the Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS) reported a tailwind of 7 knots, subsequent assessment indicated that the actual tailwind experienced during the landing was higher than this reported value. This excessive tailwind component contributed to the inability to stop within the available distance.
Prior to this final approach, the flight crew had executed a missed approach on an earlier attempt. The failure to achieve a safe stop on the contaminated surface resulted in the collision with ground-based navigation equipment.
Probable cause
The pilot's decision to land on a runway with known icy and slippery conditions while experiencing a tailwind greater than reported, which led to a runway overrun.