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CEN25LA025

2024-10-21 · Denton, Texas, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport DTO

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The partial loss of engine power during the initial climb and the pilot’s failure to maintain directional control during the forced landing with a tailwind.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that the airplane had a lower-than-expected climb rate during initial climb which was followed by a rough running engine at all power settings. The pilot entered a turn to remain close to the airport during which the radial engine quit momentarily before it resumed running rough. The pilot declared an emergency with the tower controller and was cleared to land on the runway, which resulted in a tailwind condition. The pilot was unable to maintain directional control during the landing roll which resulted in a ground loop and a runway excursion. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both ailerons and the aft spar of both lower wings. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • — Aircraft-Aircraft power plant-Power plant-(general)-Unknown/Not determined
  • — Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot
  • — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Tailwind-Effect on equipment
  • — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Tailwind-Ability to respond/compensate

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2024_CEN25LA025.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

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