No fatalities

2 May 2008: Stinson 108-3 — Jon S Dunham — Libby, MT

Libby, MT, United States

On 2 May 2008, a Stinson 108-3 operated by Jon S Dunham was involved in an aviation accident near Libby, MT. No fatalities were reported. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The pilot's inadequate compensation for the crosswind gusts and failure to maintain directional control during the landing rollout. This summary draws on records from NTSB; 12 related events involving the same aircraft type or operator are linked below.

SourcesNTSBPrimary reportUpdated 1778583330Data APIEditorial standards

A pilot reported crosswind gusts causing side-to-side bumping near touchdown. After landing, the airplane veered right, left rudder was ineffective, and the aircraft nosed over off the runway.

Incident Details

According to the pilot's report, while lowering the tail to the ground after touchdown, the airplane unexpectedly veered to the right. The pilot applied left rudder to counter the yaw, but the input was unsuccessful in correcting the deviation. The airplane subsequently veered off the right side of the runway and nosed over.

The pilot noted that during the final approach, close to touchdown, the airplane experienced side-to-side bumping due to crosswind gusts. No mechanical malfunctions or failures were reported by the pilot.

Pilot Report

The pilot stated, "...close to touchdown I was getting bumped from side to side from crosswind gusts." The pilot also confirmed that there were no preexisting mechanical issues with the airplane.

Investigation Context

The airplane sustained damage during the nose-over event. The investigation did not identify any mechanical anomalies. The pilot's account attributes the loss of directional control to gusty crosswind conditions encountered during the landing flare and touchdown.

Contributing factors

Causes

Crosswind correction — Not attained/maintainedDirectional control — Not attained/maintained

Other contributing factors

CrosswindGustsPilotRunway/land/takeoff/taxi surfa