NTSB CAROL · Event
Event CEN20CA191
Registry · N9863Z
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
JAMES A WILLIAMS PIETENPOL AIRCAMPER
Year of manufacture
2016 · 4 years old at event
Engine
CONT MOTOR A-65 SER (65 hp)
Seats / Engines
2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
20160805
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S ADC447
Registrant of record
WILLIAMS JAMES A
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot's loss of control during an aborted landing.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that the airplane "bounced twice" as he was attempting to land on the asphalt runway. He decided to execute a go-around and applied full engine power. However, the airplane "did not lift out of ground effect" and a wheel "caught the grass" causing a ground loop. The pilot noted that the accident might have been prevented by leveling off to allow the airspeed to increase before attempting to climb. He reported a variable wind at 10 knots with gusts to 15 knots. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and left wing. The pilot reported that the airplane "bounced twice" as he was attempting to land on the asphalt runway. He decided to execute a go-around and applied full engine power. However, the airplane "did not lift out of ground effect" and a wheel "caught the grass" causing a ground loop. The pilot noted that the accident might have been prevented by leveling off to allow the airspeed to increase before attempting to climb. He reported a variable wind at 10 knots with gusts to 15 knots. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and left wing. 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 Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2020_CEN20CA191.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (loss of control, 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.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2025 · Journal article (JAAER)
A Scoping Review of Aviation Loss of Control Inflight Research
Loss of control – inflight (LOC-I) contributes to aircraft accidents at unacceptably high rates. Significant industry efforts and research have aimed to improve LOC-I prevention, detection, and recove…
- 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…
- SKYbrary (Eurocontrol) 2024 · SKYbrary article
Loss of Control In-Flight (LOC-I) — SKYbrary Knowledge Base
SKYbrary comprehensive knowledge-base entry on Loss of Control In-Flight — definitions, contributing factors, accident case studies (Air France 447, Colgan 3407), and prevention strategies.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2023 · Conference paper
Utilizing Deep Learning to Predict Unstabilized Approaches for General Aviation Aircraft
Unstabilized approaches pose a major hazard for general aviation aircraft. In the period from 2009 to 2019, 3,257 general aviation accidents occurred during the landing phase of flight in which loss o…
- NTSB Aircraft Accident Reports 2022 · Accident report
Loss of Control on Takeoff in Icing Conditions — Citation 560XL
Cessna Citation 560XL fatal takeoff icing accident, March 2018. Investigation of a Citation 560XL loss-of-control takeoff accident in icing conditions.
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