NTSB ATL92LA055 — 1992-03-01 · REIDSVILLE, North Carolina, United States

Current FAA registration · N517L

Make / Model: PANZL PITTS SPECIAL S-1
Year of manufacture: 1969 · 23 years old at event
Engine: LYCOMING 0-320 SERIES (180 hp)
Seats / Engines: 1 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date: 20020724
ADS-B equipped: Yes — Mode-S A67C6A

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N517L Pitts S-1 None

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO COMPENSATE FOR THE TAILWIND AND THE IMPROPER TOUCH DOWN POINT. FACTORS WERE THE TAILWIND AND DOWNDRAFT WHICH RESULTED FROM THE TALL OBSTACLES (TREES) AROUND THE RUNWAY.

Factual narrative

THE PILOT REPORTED THAT A DOWNWIND APPROACH WAS MADE TO THE AIRSTRIP . TREES BOUNDED THE APPROACH THRESHOLD ON THREE SIDES. ON SHORT FINAL THE WIND ACROSS THE TREES, A QUARTERING TAIL WIND, RESULTED IN A DOWNDRAFT. THE AIRPLANE UNDERSHOT THE RUNWAY & STRUCK ONE OF THE THRESHOLD LIGHTS, AS IT LANDED HARD. A BALKED LANDING WAS EXECUTED. UNKNOWN TO THE PILOT, THE COLLISION WITH THE THRESHOLD LIGHT HAD COLLAPSED THE RIGHT MAIN LANDING GEAR. ON THE SUBSEQUENT LANDING THE AIRPLANE VEERED AS IT TOUCHED DOWN WHICH RESULTED IN SUBSTANTAIL DAMAGE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1992_ATL92LA055.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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