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Atlas / NTSB / CEN13CA450

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event CEN13CA450

2013-07-31 Mesquite, Texas, United States Airport · HQZ None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The student pilot failed to maintain directional control during the touch-and-go landing and during the subsequent aborted takeoff during crosswind conditions.

Factual narrative

The student pilot stated that there was a mild crosswind on final approach. The crosswind "picked up" before the airplane touched down left of centerline. The pilot retracted the flaps and advanced the throttle to continue the touch-and-go. The airplane continued to drift to the left and the left main landing gear exited the runway onto the grass. The pilot closed the throttle and elected a straight path in the grass instead of risking an over-correction. The airplane came to a stop when the nose landing gear collapsed. The firewall sustained substantial damage. The student pilot stated that there was a mild crosswind on final approach. The crosswind "picked up" before the airplane touched down left of centerline. The pilot retracted the flaps and advanced the throttle to continue the touch-and-go. The airplane continued to drift to the left and the left main landing gear exited the runway onto the grass. The pilot closed the throttle and elected a straight path in the grass instead of risking an over-correction. The airplane came to a stop when the nose landing gear collapsed. The firewall sustained substantial damage. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
  • Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Crosswind-Contributed to outcome

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2013_CEN13CA450.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.