What happened
The accident occurred while the pilot was attempting his third landing of the flight. The approach resulted in a good three-point touchdown just past the runway threshold numbers. During the subsequent landing roll, as the airplane decelerated to a speed between 5 and 10 mph, a gust of wind struck the tail section. This sudden aerodynamic force caused the aircraft to swerve off the paved surface. As the airplane left the runway, one of the wheels dug into the dirt, leading to a nose-over incident.
The investigation
The examination of the event focused on the sequence of events during the landing roll. Investigators noted that the initial touchdown was executed correctly. However, the loss of directional control coincided precisely with the reported gust of wind impacting the tail. No mechanical failures were cited as contributing factors to the swerve.
Findings
The primary factor in this accident was the gust of wind that hit the tail during the critical low-speed phase of the landing roll. This external weather condition caused the airplane to veer off the runway, resulting in substantial damage as a wheel dug into the ground and the aircraft nosed over.