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CEN21LA163

2021-03-14 · Port Aransas, Texas, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport RAS

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s failure to maintain proper airspeed on approach and his attempt to land on a wet runway with insufficient runway remaining, resulting in an overrun and loss of directional control.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that he was landing from an autopilot-coupled GPS approach when he noted that his airspeed over the runway numbers was 115 knots. The airplane floated over the wet runway touching down “just past the numbers”. The pilot applied full braking with over half of the runway remaining. The airplane slowed, but still slid off the end of the runway into the dirt. The airplane ground-looped, collapsing the left main landing gear and coming to a stop 180o facing the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The recommended approach speed for the airplane is 85 knots. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • — Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot
  • — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Runway/land/takeoff/taxi surface-Wet surface-Contributed to outcome
  • — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Airspeed-Not attained/maintained

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2021_CEN21LA163.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.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (autopilot). All research papers