Cessna 140 N73081

Summary

On 6 February 2025 at about 21:00 local time, a Cessna 140 registered N73081 was involved in an accident near Llano, Texas, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

6 February 2025 at 21:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Llano, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Llano Muni (AQO)

Coordinates

30.7887, -98.6621

Aircraft

Cessna 140

Registration

N73081

Category

Airplane

Year built

1946

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN25LA092

Nobody was injured.

The flight instructor’s failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll, that resulted in a ground loop, and a susbquent runway excursion.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor was demonstrating a landing to the pilot who was receiving instruction. At the time of the landing, the flight instructor reported the wind condition was “variable and gusty.” During the landing roll on the dry asphalt runway, he lost directional control, a ground loop occurred, and the airplane departed the runway to the right. The airplane came to rest inverted on a grass field near the runway, and the two occupants were able to egress from the airplane without further incident. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, the right wing strut, and the empennage. The flight instructor reported there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe or the engine that would have precluded normal operation. The flight instructor, who had a total of 20 hours tailwheel flight time (with 9 hours performing tailwheel flight instruction), further reported that the accident could have been prevented by obtaining more experience from a “more qualified” flight instructor before instructing in “variable and gusty” wind conditions.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.