Skip to content

CEN21LA196

2021-04-23 · Loveland, Colorado, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport FNL

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s failure to maintain directional control during landing, which resulted in a ground loop, and the failure of both pilots to establish who was in control of the airplane.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that, while practicing crosswind landings in a tailwheel-equipped airplane with a flight instructor, when the airplane touched down, directional control was lost and the airplane ground-looped striking the right wing on the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing and aileron. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot reported that he believed the flight instructor took control of the airplane during the landing. Conversely, the flight instructor reported that he believed the pilot was still in control of the airplane at the time of the accident. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained
  • — Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot
  • — Personnel issues-Psychological-Attention/monitoring-Attention-Pilot
  • — Personnel issues-Psychological-Attention/monitoring-Task monitoring/vigilance-Instructor/check pilot

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2021_CEN21LA196.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 (icing). All research papers