Skip to content

Atlas / NTSB / CEN14CA428

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event CEN14CA428

2014-08-03 Frankfort, Michigan, United States Airport · FKS Minor 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N80AM

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

GREAT LAKES 2T-1A-2

Year of manufacture

1980 · 34 years old at event

Engine

LYCOMING AEIO-360 SER (180 hp)

Seats / Engines

2 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

19800528

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S AADF90

Registrant of record

GREAT LAKES AIRCRAFT LLC

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's improper recovery from a bounced landing in gusty, crosswind conditions. Contributing to the accident was the pilot lack of recent tail wheel landing experience.

Factual narrative

The pilot maneuvered the airplane to land on runway 33 at the destination airport. Wind was from 230 at 9 knots gusting to 15 knots. During the landing flare, the airplane landed hard and bounced. The nose of the airplane shifted 30 degrees from the runway heading so the pilot applied full power to perform a go-around. The left wing dropped and collided with terrain. The airplane was substantially damaged to the wings and fuselage. The pilot reported that he did not have recent experience in his tail wheel airplane. In addition, the pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions with the airplane prior to the accident. The pilot maneuvered the airplane to land on runway 33 at the destination airport. Wind was from 230 at 9 knots gusting to 15 knots. During the landing flare, the airplane landed hard and bounced. The nose of the airplane shifted 30 degrees from the runway heading so the pilot applied full power to perform a go-around. The left wing dropped and collided with terrain. The airplane was substantially damaged to the wings and fuselage. The pilot reported that he did not have recent experience in his tail wheel airplane. In addition, the pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions with the airplane prior to the accident. 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).

  • Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Crosswind-Ability to respond/compensate
  • Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Gusts-Ability to respond/compensate
  • F Personnel issues-Experience/knowledge-Experience/qualifications-Recent experience w/ equipment-Pilot - F
  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Landing flare-Incorrect use/operation - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2014_CEN14CA428.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Related research

What the literature says.

Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (go-around). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.

Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗