Small Aircraft; Low Wing; 1 Eng; Fixed Gear
Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Flight Instructor; Flight Crew Commercial
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 21; Flight Crew Total 2838; Flight Crew Type 1636
Conflict Ground Conflict; Critical; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Ground Incursion Runway
Human Factors
I was on a short local flight from S36; a non-towered airport. When I took off; the wind was favoring Runway 33; estimated 5-6 knots almost directly down the runway. The traffic pattern was not busy; but other aircraft were using the same runway.When I returned to the airport a short time later; I heard a Cessna in the pattern; landing runway 15. As I approached the airport; I saw two clearly visible columns of smoke a mile or two west of the airport and another column of smoke just west of the runway. (The smoke near the runway was from a residence chimney at the airport.) All three columns of smoke were clearly drifting from north to south; showing a wind from the north (favoring Runway 33).Of interesting note; there are several other towered and non-towered airports nearby. Every one of them was landing to the north.I started my landing approach on a '45' to Runway 33. I called that out on the CTAF frequency. I made radio calls on downwind; base; and final. When I rolled out on final; I saw a Cessna stopped in the run-up area at the end of Runway 15. I soon discovered that it was [the Cessna in the pattern]. I was rounding out for my flare when I heard a male voice on CTAF announce that [the Cessna] was taking off on Runway 15. I saw the Cessna start to move forward onto the runway. As I flared; I keyed the mic and asked; 'Do you see the airplane about to touch down going the other way?' After a couple of seconds or so; the Cessna; now across the runway hold line; stopped moving. The male voice replied; 'I do now.' The Cessna waited while I landed.As I passed the south end windsock in my landing flare; it was clearly indicating Runway 33; estimated 6-8 knots of wind. I saw the smoke column from the residence on the west side of the runway; near the '15' end. It was drifting from north to south; indicating a wind out of the north. The windsock on the fuel island was hanging limp on the east side of the pole.As I taxied to parking; I heard [the Cessna] announce that they were taking off on Runway 15. Not being shy about addressing safety concerns; I keyed the mic and asked; 'Do you really like tailwinds?' The other pilot replied that every wind indication on the airport favored Runway 15. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I persisted. He finally taxied to Runway 33 while all this happened.A flight instructor on the ground told me that he had seen [that Cessna] land on Runway 15. He said that [they] were high and fast; landing way down the runway; with a tailwind. He described the landing as 'sloppy'. I saw that there were two people in the front seats. My guess is a student and instructor.Another flight instructor heard the radio traffic and saw part of the incident. He told me how concerned he was.This incident raises several concerns. First; the pilot of [the Cessna] missed so many wind indications - three clearly visible columns of smoke; the windsock; what other airplanes were doing at this airport; and the landing direction at every other airport in the vicinity.Second; and most important; the pilot seemed oblivious to what was going on around him. More than the wind indicators; he apparently wasn't listening to the radio; missing my CTAF calls on the 45; downwind; base; and final. Worse; I doubt he looked down the runway before he started entering the runway to takeoff; or he would have seen my airplane about to land; clearly visible and with the landing light on.Then the pilot tried to claim that wind indicators were what they clearly and obviously weren't.Finally; if this was in fact an instructional flight; what quality of instruction is this student getting?
GA pilot reported landing on Runway 33 at S36 while another aircraft started to taxi into position on Runway 15.