On January 5, 2007, an American Champion (acac) 8GCBC (registration N186AC) operated by Thaddeus S Narolski was involved in an aviation accident near Buckley, WA. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The pilot's failure to release brake pressure soon enough when his airplane skidded from wet grass onto dry terrain during an off-airport, full-stop landing. A factor was the change in terrain from wet grass to dry ground in the landing area. This summary draws on records from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) historical archive.
During landing on a wet grass field, the airplane's main wheels skidded when brakes were applied. Upon reaching drier terrain, braking effectiveness increased, causing the tailwheel-equipped aircraft to nose over despite the pilot releasing brake pressure.
Incident Details
A tailwheel-equipped airplane experienced a nose-over while landing in an open field covered with wet grass. The accident occurred when the aircraft's main wheels began to skid following brake application on the slick surface. As the airplane moved onto drier terrain, the braking effectiveness increased abruptly, leading to the nose-over.
Sequence of Events
The pilot applied brakes during the landing roll on wet grass, which caused the main wheels to skid due to reduced traction. When the aircraft transitioned to a drier area of the field, the change in surface conditions resulted in a sudden increase in braking effectiveness. This caused the tailwheel airplane to pitch forward and nose over. The pilot attempted to counteract the situation by releasing all brake pressure, but the action was not timely enough to prevent the nose-over.
Aircraft Configuration
The airplane involved was a tailwheel-equipped aircraft. No other details about the make, model, or registration were provided in the source.