CEN14CA428
2014-08-03 · Frankfort, Michigan, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport FKS
Current FAA registration · N80AM
- 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
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
FAA avdata. C = Cause, 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 ↗.
Search this event elsewhere
External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.
- TallyAero Live Wire Aviation press
- NTSB CAROL Agency ↗
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- Aviation Safety Network Aviation press ↗
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Related research
Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (go-around). All research papers
- NASA NTRS 2025 · Conference Paper A Training Study to Improve Monitoring During A Go-Around
As part of an FAA program to improve go-around (GA) safety, we were asked to determine if we could improve the performance of the Pilot Monitoring (PM) during a GA maneuver.
- Flight Safety Foundation 2024 · FSF / AeroSafety World Go-Around Safety Forum Findings
Foundation Go-Around Safety Forum technical findings — examines why pilots fail to execute go-arounds when criteria are met (stabilized approach gate not met, energy state out of envelope, traffic con…
- Semantic Scholar 2022 · Article (Journal of Safety Research) Go-around accidents and general aviation safety.
INTRODUCTION Changes in General Aviation (GA) accident rates, specifically in the go-around phase, are examined by comparing the number of accidents, the proportion of fatal accidents, and the proport…
- Semantic Scholar 2021 · Article (Aerospace) Classification and Analysis of Go-Arounds in Commercial Aviation Using ADS-B Data
Go-arounds are a necessary aspect of commercial aviation and are conducted after a landing attempt has been aborted. It is necessary to conduct go-arounds in the safest possible manner, as go-arounds …
- NASA NTRS 2021 · Accepted Manuscript (Version with final changes) Go-Around Criteria Refinement for Transport Category Aircraft
Presently, airline pilots are trained to go around if, when lower than 500 ft above the ground, they are outside of a handful of parameters such as airspeed, position, and rate of descent.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Conference Paper Validation of Proposed Go-Around Criteria Under Various Environmental Conditions
This paper evaluates the effects of environmental conditions on touchdown performance under varying approach states and validates proposed go-around criteria developed using data from a previously con…