Flight Training - May 2015 - 58

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ACCIDENT ANALYSIS

Gone with the...

Not all wind-related accidents are benign
» By David Jack Kenny

WHEN THE AOPA Air Safety Institute
classifies accidents for analyses such as
the Nall Report, the "weather" category
actually excludes the one meteorological
phenomenon responsible for the most
bent aluminum: wind. Wind-driven
accidents usually are failures of either
skill (getting pushed off the runway by
a "gust") or judgment (taking on crosswinds beyond the pilot's and/or airplane's
capabilities). Since the pilot decides when
to fly and where to go, problems coping
with prevailing winds fit in those categories related to planning and technique,
chiefly takeoffs, landings, and go-arounds.
The majority of these accidents are
more embarrassing than dangerous. Runway excursions are the most common.
Wing tips, gear, and propellers typically
sustain the brunt of the punishment,
while properly harnessed pilots escape
unhurt. But not all wind-related accidents
are benign. Too great a gulf between capabilities and actual conditions can render
an aircraft uncontrollable.
In May 2011, the pilot of a Cessna 172-
low on fuel after getting lost, and carrying
three passengers-tried to land in a direct
crosswind gusting to 28 knots. Witnesses
saw it approach in an extreme crab,
touching down "multiple times, and flying
down the runway sideways with the nose

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FLIGHTTRAINING.AOPA.ORG

pointing into the wind." The pilot finally
went around, only to stall into the ground
during the crosswind turn.
In March 2013, a Mooney pilot took off
on a day the winds were really howling:
33 knots with gusts to 47, perpendicular to
the runway. He had three passengers-his
girlfriend, her sister, and his 13-year-old
niece. When a lineman suggested he
postpone the flight, he replied that he
didn't think the wind would be a problem.
He couldn't have been more wrong. The
Mooney never climbed above 100 feet
before pitching down and crashing nosefirst. And the following December, the
pilot of a Husky attempted a wrong-direction takeoff from a one-way mountain
field rather than hazard a tailwind gusting
to 23 knots. The airplane stalled as he
tried to turn away from the hills just off
the far end of the runway.
These decisions cost the lives of seven
passengers, plus those of the pilots who
made them. Don't let the mildness of most
wind accidents confuse the issue. The
question is not whether too much wind
will hurt you a lot or just a little. The question is simply whether it's too much.
David Jack Kenny, the Air Safety Institute's statistician, only takes on crosswinds of more than 15
knots under adult supervision.

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Flight Training - May 2015

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