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Atlas / NTSB / CEN14CA055

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event CEN14CA055

2013-11-02 Loveland, Colorado, United States Airport · KFNL Minor 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

A dragging right brake, which resulted in an un-commanded right turn, and subsequent ground loop.

Factual narrative

The flight instructor and pilot receiving instruction were landing a tailwheel-equipped airplane. The instructor reported that that the after touchdown the airplane veered to the right. He took control of the airplane and applied full left rudder and left brake. The airplane tracked straight for a moment before it turned right and departed the runway. The left main landing gear collapsed and the left wing impacted the ground. Examination of the airplane's right brake rotor revealed heat damage (bluing) of the rotor and substantial damage to the airplane's wing and fuselage. The instructed noted that the other pilot did not appear to make any control inputs that would have resulted in a right turn. The flight instructor and pilot receiving instruction were landing a tailwheel-equipped airplane. The instructor reported that that the after touchdown the airplane veered to the right. He took control of the airplane and applied full left rudder and left brake. The airplane tracked straight for a moment before it turned right and departed the runway. The left main landing gear collapsed and the left wing impacted the ground. Examination of the airplane's right brake rotor revealed heat damage (bluing) of the rotor and substantial damage to the airplane's wing and fuselage. The instructed noted that the other pilot did not appear to make any control inputs that would have resulted in a right turn.    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 systems-Landing gear system-Brake-Malfunction - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2013_CEN14CA055.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.