What happened
During the landing phase on runway 20, the aircraft began a sharp drift toward the left side of the runway. The pilot reported that despite no official wind gusts being recorded at the time of the event, the aircraft felt as though it were being pushed by a gust. In an effort to maintain directional control, the pilot utilized rudder pedal inputs and applied full right aileron.
As the drift continued, the pilot attempted to abort the landing by increasing power to full throttle and setting 25 degrees of flaps. However, the aircraft failed to gain enough airspeed to rotate. The pilot subsequently reduced the throttle to idle and applied the brakes to prevent hitting obstacles. During the excursion, the aircraft struck runway and taxiway signage before coming to a stop inside a drainage culvert. The incident resulted in substantial damage to both wings.
Findings
Investigation into the environmental conditions revealed that the published METAR for the airport showed winds from 290 degrees at 15 knots, with wind gusts exceeding 22 knots recorded both one hour before and one hour after the accident. This exceeded the aircraft's maximum demonstrated crosswind component of 17 knots. There were no reported mechanical failures or malfunctions present on the aircraft prior to the excursion.