NTSB CAROL · Event
Event CEN20CA247
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll. The pilot being fatigued likely contributed to his failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll.
Factual narrative
The pilot stated that he intended to make a full-stall, 3-point, landing in the tailwheel-equipped airplane with a right crosswind. The pilot stated that the airplane touched down on the right main landing gear and tailwheel, followed by the left main landing gear. He maintained full right aileron input during the landing roll; however, when the airplane had decelerated to about 10 knots, he lost directional control and the airplane ground looped to the right. The airplane's left aileron and left-wing rear spar were substantially damaged during the accident. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane. The pilot stated that he was "hot and tired" after flying for at least 6 hours without the aid of an autopilot on the day of the accident, and that fatigue had contributed, in part, to his failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll. 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
- F Personnel issues-Physical-Alertness/Fatigue-(general)-Pilot - F
- F Personnel issues-Psychological-Attention/monitoring-Task monitoring/vigilance-Pilot - F
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2020_CEN20CA247.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 (stall, autopilot). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- NASA NTRS 2026 · Conference Paper
Computational Analysis of Steady State Aerodynamics of Transonic Truss-Braced Wing Configuration in Deep Stall
This study presents a computational investigation of steady state aerodynamics of the Subsonic Ultra-Green Aircraft Research (SUGAR) Transonic Truss-Braced Wing (TTBW) configuration over a wide range …
- arXiv 2025 · arXiv preprint
ROSflight 2.0: Lean ROS 2-Based Autopilot for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
ROSflight is a lean, open-source autopilot ecosystem for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Designed by researchers for researchers, it is built to lower the barrier to entry to UAV research and acceler…
- arXiv 2025 · arXiv preprint
ROSplane 2.0: A Fixed-Wing Autopilot for Research
Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) research requires the integration of cutting-edge technology into existing autopilot frameworks.
- arXiv 2024 · arXiv preprint
A Data-Driven Autopilot for Fixed-Wing Aircraft Based on Model Predictive Control
Autopilots for fixed-wing aircraft are typically designed based on linearized aerodynamic models consisting of stability and control derivatives obtained from wind-tunnel testing.
- arXiv 2023 · arXiv preprint
Automating Bird Diverter Installation through Multi-Aerial Robots and Signal Temporal Logic Specifications
This paper tackles the task assignment and trajectory generation problem for bird diverter installation using a fleet of multi-rotors.
- arXiv 2023 · arXiv preprint
Variation of Critical Crystallization Pressure for the Formation of Square Ice in Graphene Nanocapillaries
Two-dimensional square ice in graphene nanocapillaries at room temperature is a fascinating phenomenon and has been confirmed experimentally.
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