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CEN25LA369

2025-09-07 · Sturgis, Michigan, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport IRS

Current FAA registration · N22LZ

Make / Model
ZENITH ZODIAC CH 650B
Year of manufacture
2021 · 4 years old at event
Engine
VIKING 110 (110 hp)
Seats / Engines
2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
20240618
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A1DFBA

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s failure to maintain control while landing.

Factual narrative

The pilot was conducting takeoffs and landings in the airplane at the time of the accident. According to the pilot, the initial takeoff and landing were completed without incident. The second takeoff was uneventful; however, on final approach for the second landing, the airplane ballooned about 10 ft above the runway when it encountered a wind gust. The pilot reported that he was late in initiating a go-around. The airplane bounced and then impacted on the nose landing gear resulting in the collapse. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the forward fuselage and right wing. The pilot noted that the wind increased from about 4 knots at the beginning of the flight, to about 10 knots with gusts to 15 knots. He stated there were no failures or malfunctions associated with the airplane before the accident. He added that additional airspeed on approach during gusty wind conditions might have prevented the accident. 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-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Gusts-Contributed to outcome

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2025_CEN25LA369.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (go-around). All research papers