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CEN11CA462

2011-07-03 · Washington Island, Wisconsin, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 2P2

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control during the landing and his delayed remedial action to abort the landing.

Factual narrative

The pilot landed the airplane using the "short field technique" which he had recently practiced with his instructor. During the landing roll, the airplane's wheels rolled through some potholes causing the airplane to become airborne again. The pilot attempted to abort the landing by applying full throttle and retracting the flaps to the takeoff position. However, with full throttle and full aft elevator, the airplane would not climb and settled back down onto the ground. The airplane veered to the left and went through a small ditch, which tore off the landing gear. The airplane continued to slide along the ground until finally coming rest, adjacent to a road near the airport perimeter edge. A postaccident examination of the airplane showed the empennage was buckled and the horizontal stabilizer was partially separated. There were no mechanical anomalies or issues noted with the airplane. The pilot reported he was late in initiating the aborted landing procedure. The pilot landed the airplane using a short field technique which he had recently practiced with his flight instructor. During the landing roll, the airplane's wheels rolled through some potholes causing the airplane to become airborne again. The pilot attempted to abort the landing by applying full throttle and retracting the flaps to the takeoff position. However, with full throttle and full aft elevator, the airplane would not climb and settled back down onto the ground. The airplane veered to the left and impacted a ditch, which tore off the landing gear, and substantially damaged the empennage and horizontal stabilizer. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies with the airplane. The pilot reported he was late in initiating the aborted landing procedure. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-(general)-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
  • C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Delayed action-Pilot - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2011_CEN11CA462.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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