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Atlas / NTSB / ERA10CA152

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event ERA10CA152

2010-02-24 Patillas, Puerto Rico, United States Airport · X64 Minor 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N5212L

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

TALOS DRONES T60X

0

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A68F4E

Registrant of record

AMERICAN DRONE NETWORK LLC

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The student pilot’s decision to abort the takeoff with insufficient runway remaining.

Factual narrative

The certificated flight instructor (CFI) stated that the student pilot was performing the takeoff. Upon reaching 65 knots, the student pilot panicked for no apparent reason and pulled the throttle back to abort the takeoff. The CFI knew that there was not enough runway remaining to safely stop, and took control of the airplane to continue the takeoff. The airplane was able to clear trees at the departure end of the runway, but the CFI stated that he was too low to gain airspeed or a positive rate of climb. The CFI elected to land in a river to avoid trees and rising terrain immediately ahead, which resulted in substantial damage to the airplane. The certificated flight instructor (CFI) stated that the student pilot was performing the takeoff. Upon reaching 65 knots, the student pilot panicked for no apparent reason and pulled the throttle back to abort the takeoff. The CFI knew that there was not enough runway remaining to safely stop, and took control of the airplane to continue the takeoff. The airplane was able to clear trees at the departure end of the runway, but the CFI stated that he was too low to gain airspeed or a positive rate of climb. The CFI elected to land in a river to avoid trees and rising terrain immediately ahead, which resulted in substantial damage to the airplane. 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).

  • C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Decision making/judgment-Student pilot - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2010_ERA10CA152.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.