Story ID: 
Quartering Tailwind Landing Led to PC-12 Excursion
By: Gordon Gilbert
Caption: Aircraft was substantially damaged after overrunning runway at Las Vegas-area airport
Word Count: 237
The NTSB attributed the probable cause for a runway excursion of a Pilatus PC-12 on May 17, 2025, at Las Vegas Henderson Executive Airport (KHND) to the “pilot’s failure to maintain directional control while landing with a quartering tailwind.” Public charter provider Boutique Air was operating the 2006 turboprop single under Part 91. 
According to the NTSB, the sole-occupant pilot conceded that he was landing on Runway 17R at night with a quartering tailwind, although the airport’s automated weather observation station reported that the wind was from 240 degrees at 13 knots, gusting to 20 knots in night VMC at about the time of the accident. His narrative of the accident pointed out, "Winds seem to have shifted with a quartering tailwind at some point." 
“Shortly after touchdown, about the time that he placed the power control lever to reverse, the airplane veered right. He applied left rudder control to bring the airplane back to the centerline, and about one to three seconds later, the airplane veered hard right.
“The pilot tried to bring the airplane back towards the runway centerline, but it veered off the right side of the runway and traveled through gravel between the runway and the taxiway. Subsequently, the airplane struck a storm trench and substantially damaged the right wing.” The pilot, who had logged 3,176 total hours and 2,853 in the PC-12, was not injured.