What happened
While taxiing at the Rosencranz Memorial Airport in Saint Joseph, Missouri, an aircraft experienced a nose-over accident. As the aircraft joined the taxiway, witnesses from Air Traffic Control personnel observed the tail lifting and the airplane pitching forward onto its nose.
The pilot reported that they were performing a left turn from 090 degrees to 360 degrees onto taxiway Alpha. During this maneuver, the pilot used aileron deflections to turn into a quartering headwind and away from a quartering tailwind. The pilot noted that power had been reduced somewhat during the turn.
At the midpoint of the turn, the wind was blowing directly perpendicular to the left side of the fuselage. At this moment, the tail began to rise, causing the propeller to strike the taxiway. A witness reported seeing the aircraft lift on its nose, spin 90 degrees, and fall over.
Weather conditions at the time of the accident involved winds from 310 degrees magnetic at 40 knots, with gusts reaching 46 knots.
Findings
The pilot indicated that while they had received training on using ailerons during taxiing, there was less emphasis on the necessity of maintaining higher power settings to keep the tail down. The pilot suggested that the reduction in power during the 90-degree turn may have contributed to the tail rising under the wind conditions.