NTSB CAROL · Event
Event CEN24LA058
Registry · N90ZZ
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
PIPER PA46-500TP
Year of manufacture
2005 · 18 years old at event
Engine
P&W PT6A SER (750 hp)
Seats / Engines
6 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
20051019
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S AC6F2A
Registrant of record
MCKEAND SCOTT
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The airplane’s encounter with unexpected wind shear during final approach, which resulted in a hard landing short of the runway.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that he was flying the RNAV (GPS) approach to runway 24 and experienced turbulence about 1,500 ft mean sea level (msl), which was about 700 ft above ground level (agl). He continued the approach with an airspeed between 95 and 100 kts. He stated that about 50 ft agl and short of the runway, the airplane encountered wind shear that violently forced the airplane to the ground. The airplane impacted the ground in a wings level attitude and continued onto the runway. The left main landing gear separated, the airplane veered off the left side of the runway, then came to rest in the grass facing 180° from the direction of travel. Postaccident photos of the airplane revealed substantial damage to the right wing. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot stated to the responding fire department that there was a 30 kt crosswind on final approach. The recorded wind data around the time of the accident showed the wind was from 250° to 260° and 7 to 11 kts. 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).
- — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Windshear-Effect on operation
- — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Altitude-Attain/maintain not possible
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2023_CEN24LA058.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 (wind shear, turbulence). 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 2019 · Contractor Report (CR)
An Examination of Aviation Accidents Associated with Turbulence, Wind Shear and Thunderstorm
The focal point of the study reported here was the definition and examination of turbulence, wind shear and thunderstorm in relation to aviation accidents.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Convectively Induced Turbulence Encountered During NASA's Fall-2000 Flight Experiments
Aircraft encounters with atmospheric turbulence are a leading cause of in-flight injuries aboard commercial airliners and cost the airlines millions of dollars each year.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Technical Memorandum (TM)
Some aspects of wind shear in the upper atmosphere
Hydrodynamic turbulence and wind shear in upper atmosphere
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2019 · Journal article (IJAAA)
Low Level Turbulence Detection For Airports
Abstract—— Low level wind shear and turbulence present a serious safety risk to aircraft during the approach, landing and take-off phases.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2018 · Journal article (IJAAA)
Evaluating the Effect of Turbulence on Aircraft During Landing and Take-Off Phases
—— Low level wind shear and turbulence present a serious safety risk to aircraft during the approach, landing and take-off phases.
- arXiv 2026 · arXiv preprint
Direct Numerical Simulations of Ice-Ocean Boundary Turbulence
Turbulent heat and freshwater transport at ice-ocean interfaces controls glacier and iceberg melt rates, yet the underlying physics remains poorly constrained.
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗