Overall Trends
Total, fatal, and serious accidents in the selected range.
Search investigations, review source evidence, monitor watched reports, and trace long-term patterns from one calm, data-first workspace.
Fast key and full-text search with live filters, watches, and precise metadata.
Use quotes for exact phrase matches (for example "fuel selector valve").
Track fatal and non-fatal accident patterns across Part 91, Part 135, and Part 121 operations.
Major cases, deep-report coverage, and investigation media across decades of NTSB history.
Move quickly by aircraft, airport, operator, and time with indexes built for research, not wandering.
NTSB Reports is an independent research and search tool for public aviation accident and incident records. It brings NTSB aviation reports, structured fields, docket files, extracted figures, photos, videos, and update history into one searchable interface.
The goal is practical safety education: make it faster to find relevant investigations, compare similar events, review factual records, and understand the evidence behind probable-cause and preliminary reports.
The investigative work and source records belong to the National Transportation Safety Board and the published investigation record. This site is not affiliated with or endorsed by the NTSB.
Westcliffe, CO
DURING LANDING ROLL, FOLLOWING A GLIDER TOW FLIGHT, GUSTING CROSS WINDS WERE ENCOUNTERED. THE AIRCRAFT EXITED THE SIDE OF THE RUNWAY, WENT DOWN A 20 TO 25 DEGREE SLOPE, AND NOSED OVER.
FAILURE BY THE PILOT TO MAINTAIN DIRECTIONAL CONTROL. A FACTOR WAS GUSTING CROSS WINDS.
On September 2, 1995, at 1330 mountain daylight time, a Piper PA- 18-150, N4253Z, departed the side of the runway and nosed over during landing roll at Westcliffe, Colorado. The private (commercial glider) pilot was not injured and the aircraft sustained substantial damage. The flight was operating under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 as a glider tow flight when the accident occurred. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The tow portion of the flight was complete and the pilot was conducting a final landing. According to the pilot, during landing roll, the wind was gusting between 10 and 20 knots from the west and the aircraft deviated to the west and went off the side of the runway. The pilot said there was a slope of 20 to 25 degrees off that side of the runway and the aircraft went down the slope and nosed over. The nearest weather observation facility was approximately 30 miles away, over a range of 14,000 mountains. Thus the recorded weather is not necessarily indicative of the weather at the accident site.