Cessna 140 accident near Suffolk, Virginia, November 6, 2025
On November 6, 2025 at about 8:43 pm local time, a 1947 Cessna 140, registered N1860V, was substantially damaged in an accident during landing near Suffolk, Virginia (Greenway Airfield). It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot’s failure to maintain control of the airplane during landing, which resulted in a nose over.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- November 6, 2025 · about 8:43 pm local time
- Place
- Suffolk, Virginia · Greenway Airfield · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 140 UNDESIGNAT, built 1947 · all 140s on the register
- Registration
- N1860V · registry record · serial 14039
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The pilot of the tailwheel-equipped airplane was practicing touch-and-go landings on a private turf runway. Upon his third landing, he stated that the main landing gear seemed to be “digging into” the turf before the tail “rapidly” came up and the airplane nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer, rudder, and the fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Additionally, the pilot thought that the airplane’s parking brake might have been inadvertently engaged during the landing, but a postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that its parking brake had been removed at some point in the past. A functional test of the wheel brakes also confirmed that they operated normally.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
What happened, in order
- Nose over/nose down during landing defining event
The NTSB's findings
- Personnel issues › Task performance › Use of equip/info › Aircraft control › Pilot
- Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability › Performance/control parameters › Surface speed/braking › Not attained/maintained
Pilot
- Certificate: private
- Ratings: single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 266 hours in all; 39 in this make and model; 24 in the last 90 days; 6 in the last 30 days; 205 as pilot in command
- Last flight review: August 10, 2025
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (without waivers/limitations)
- Seat: left
- Injury: no injuries
Passenger
- Seat: rgt
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 4,057 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, May 9, 2025
- Maximum gross weight: 1,450 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Continental Motor Company C-85-12F (piston); 1,672 hours total
The flight
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 01, 2,550 ft by 60 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 330° at 4 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: scat at 6,000 ft
- Temperature: 61°F (16°C), dew point 25°F (-4°C)
- Altimeter: 3019.00 inHg
- Observation at 3:25 pm from SFQ, 6 miles away
Weather report (METAR): METAR KSFQ 062035Z AUTO 33004KT CLR 16/M04 A3019
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flig | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 1 |
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The docket at the NTSB holds the report as a PDF and the investigation's photographs and documents. This site never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number ERA26LA032.