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CEN10CA231

2010-04-28 · Boulder, Colorado, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport BDU

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control while landing in a crosswind.

Factual narrative

The private pilot was attempting to land his single-engine airplane in a crosswind, when the airplane drifted to the right of the runway and touched down. The left wing lifted and the pilot reacted by adding power for a go-around, but realized that a go-around was not a suitable option and reduced engine power. The airplane veered toward a fence and a road, so the pilot again added power in an attempt to lift the airplane over them. Subsequently, the left wing hit a telephone pole and a car. The pilot reduced power and the airplane skidded to a stop and remained upright on the landing gear. The pilot reported no mechanical deficiencies with the airplane and stated the he failed to maintain control of the airplane after touchdown while attempting to land in a crosswind. The private pilot was attempting to land his single-engine airplane in a crosswind when the airplane drifted to the right of the runway and touched down. The left wing lifted and the pilot reacted by adding power for a go-around, but he then determined that a go-around was not a suitable option and reduced engine power. The airplane veered toward a fence and a road, so the pilot again added power in an attempt to lift the airplane over them. Subsequently, the left wing hit a telephone pole and a car. The pilot reduced power and the airplane skidded to a stop and remained upright on the landing gear. The pilot reported no mechanical deficiencies with the airplane and stated that he failed to maintain control of the airplane after touchdown while attempting to land in a crosswind. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • C Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Crosswind-Response/compensation - C
  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-(general)-Not attained/maintained - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2010_CEN10CA231.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (go-around). All research papers