On June 26, 1996, a Cessna 140A (registration N3788V) was involved in an aviation accident near Edinboro, PA. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The pilot's improper flare, which resulted in a hard landing and subsequent nose over. The tailwind was a related factor. This summary draws on records from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) historical archive.
A pilot on his first flight to a private airstrip reported a hard landing and nose-over after a side-slip approach with a tailwind.
Accident Details
A pilot experienced a hard landing and nose-over while operating an airplane on its first flight to a private airstrip. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunction with the aircraft.
Pilot's Account
According to the pilot, he spent about one-half hour locating the field. He then made a low pass to inspect the runway and flew a pattern to land. The pilot had been advised that the runway was uphill to the east, so he landed with a slight quartering tailwind. He was high on approach and side-slipped to lose altitude. When he kicked the airplane out of the slip, he had insufficient airspeed to totally arrest the descent, and landed very hard, which resulted in the airplane flipping over.