Skip to content

CEN11CA127

2010-12-21 · Clifton, Texas, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 7F7

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's inadequate compensation for the crosswind and inadequate flare, which resulted in a hard landing.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that as he neared for touchdown on runway 32, the airplane encountered a strong gust of wind that pushed him “off the runway”. He stated that he added power, but the engine did not respond. The airplane then landed hard; tearing the right main landing gear off, followed by the nose-wheel landing gear. An examination of the airplane following the accident revealed that the airplane’s fuselage was buckled aft of the main landing gear attachment points and the both tips of the two-bladed propeller were curled aft in a manner consistent with engine power at the time of impact. An individual, who was opening up his hangar, reported that he heard “the sound of metal contacting the ground”; turned and saw the accident airplane dragging its wing. The witness also saw the main landing gear separate from the airplane, and the baggage door, “pop” open. He also added that he did not hear the engine increase power, for a “go-around.” The automated weather reporting station, located about 21 miles southeast of the accident site, reported at 1051 winds at 220 degrees at 8 knots. According to the pilot, the airplane encountered a strong gust of wind just prior to touchdown, and the pilot added power, but the engine did not respond. The airplane then landed hard, tearing the right main landing gear off, followed by the nosewheel landing gear. Postaccident examination revealed that the airplane’s fuselage was buckled aft of the main landing gear attachment points and that both tips of the two-bladed propeller were curled aft in a manner consistent with the engine producing power at the time of impact. A witness reported that he heard the sound of metal contacting the ground and observed the airplane dragging its wing. He also observed the main landing gear separate from the airplane and the baggage door open. He did not hear the engine increase power for a go-around. The closest automated weather reporting station, located about 21 miles southeast of the accident site, reported wind from 220 degrees at 8 knots. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-(general)-(general)-Pilot - C
  • — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-(general)-Not specified

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2010_CEN11CA127.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 (go-around). All research papers