NTSB CAROL · Event
Event DEN03LA151
Registry · N455RT
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
AMERICAN CHAMPION AIRCRAFT 7GCAA
Year of manufacture
2000 · 3 years old at event
Engine
LYCOMING 0-320 SERIES (180 hp)
Seats / Engines
2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
20000918
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A58638
Registrant of record
SOUTHERN GENESIS AERO LLC
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
the pilot's failure to maintain directional control during landing roll which resulted in the subsequent ground loop/swerve and impact with the ditch.
Factual narrative
On September 7, 2003, at 1015 mountain daylight time, a Waco YMF-5, N455RT, operated by the pilot, was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain during a go-around at Taos Regional Airport (SKX), Taos, New Mexico. The private pilot, the sole occupant on board, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. No flight plan had been filed for this personal flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight originated at Santa Fe, New Mexico, at approximately 1000. According to the pilot, after completing a "wheel landing" on runway 04, the airplane began to "fishtail." As he applied rudder control, the airplane's right wing dipped and the right main landing gear departed the right side of the runway. When he applied go-around power, the airplane departed the right side of the runway, and struck a ditch. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right main landing gear, right wing, and the firewall. According to the pilot, after completing a "wheel landing" on runway 04, the airplane began to "fishtail." As he applied rudder control, the airplane's right wing dipped and the right main landing gear departed the right side of the runway. When he applied go-around power, the airplane departed the right side of the runway, and struck a ditch. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2003_DEN03LA151.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 (go-around). 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 2025 · Conference Paper
A Training Study to Improve Monitoring During A Go-Around
As part of an FAA program to improve go-around (GA) safety, we were asked to determine if we could improve the performance of the Pilot Monitoring (PM) during a GA maneuver.
- Flight Safety Foundation 2024 · FSF / AeroSafety World
Go-Around Safety Forum Findings
Foundation Go-Around Safety Forum technical findings — examines why pilots fail to execute go-arounds when criteria are met (stabilized approach gate not met, energy state out of envelope, traffic con…
- Semantic Scholar 2022 · Article (Journal of Safety Research)
Go-around accidents and general aviation safety.
INTRODUCTION Changes in General Aviation (GA) accident rates, specifically in the go-around phase, are examined by comparing the number of accidents, the proportion of fatal accidents, and the proport…
- Semantic Scholar 2021 · Article (Aerospace)
Classification and Analysis of Go-Arounds in Commercial Aviation Using ADS-B Data
Go-arounds are a necessary aspect of commercial aviation and are conducted after a landing attempt has been aborted. It is necessary to conduct go-arounds in the safest possible manner, as go-arounds …
- NASA NTRS 2021 · Accepted Manuscript (Version with final changes)
Go-Around Criteria Refinement for Transport Category Aircraft
Presently, airline pilots are trained to go around if, when lower than 500 ft above the ground, they are outside of a handful of parameters such as airspeed, position, and rate of descent.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Conference Paper
Validation of Proposed Go-Around Criteria Under Various Environmental Conditions
This paper evaluates the effects of environmental conditions on touchdown performance under varying approach states and validates proposed go-around criteria developed using data from a previously con…
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