Skip to content

ATL92LA011

1991-10-19 · WALTERBORO, South Carolina, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport RBW

Current FAA registration · N27DW

Make / Model
WINCHESTER THORP T-18
Year of manufacture
1975 · 16 years old at event
Engine
LYCOMING 0-320 SERIES (180 hp)
Seats / Engines
2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
20070123
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A2A483

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE STUDENT PILOT'S IMPROPER USE OF THE WHEEL BRAKES, AND THE SUBSEQUENT LOSS OF DIRECTIONAL CONTROL. FACTORS IN THIS ACCIDENT WERE THE STUDENT PILOT'S LACK OF TOTAL FLYING EXPERIENCE AND THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND'S INADEQUATE SUPERVISION OF THE FLIGHT.

Factual narrative

THE STUDENT PILOT WAS IN THE LEFT SEAT; HIS FATHER, A COMMERCIAL PILOT (NOT AN INSTRUCTOR), WAS IN THE RIGHT SEAT. WHEEL BRAKE PEDALS WERE INSTALLED ON THE LEFT SIDE ONLY. THE STUDENT WAS LANDING THE AIRPLANE. UPON TOUCHDOWN, THE TAIL WHEEL BEGAN TO SHIMMY, AND THE AIRPLANE DRIFTED TO THE SIDE OF THE RUNWAY. THE STUDENT APPLIED WHEEL BRAKES, HOWEVER, HE REPORTED THAT HIS RIGHT FOOT INADVERTENTLY PUSHED A FUEL TANK BRACE INSTEAD OF THE RIGHT BRAKE PEDAL. THE AIRPLANE DEPARTED THE RUNWAY TO THE LEFT SIDE, AND GROUND LOOPED. THERE WERE NO REPORTED MECHANICAL PROBLEMS WITH THE AIRPLANE PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1991_ATL92LA011.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (stall). All research papers