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ERA10CA278

2010-05-24 · East Haddam, Connecticut, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 42B

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's delayed decision to attempt a go-around, and his subsequent failure to maintain directional control while landing.

Factual narrative

According to the pilot, he was attempting to land on runway 32, a 2,120-foot-long, 50-foot-wide, asphalt runway, when he realized he was going to land "long," and attempted a go-around. He applied full throttle; however, the airplane touched down about halfway down the runway, and veered to the left. The airplane departed the left side of runway, and came to rest on grass about 75 feet from the runway. The nose gear separated and the airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing and right horizontal stabilizer. The pilot stated he did not experience any mechanical anomalies during the flight. He reported about 175 hours of total flight experience, all accumulated in the same make and model as the accident airplane. He also reported that winds at the time of the accident were from 200 degrees at 5 knots. According to the pilot, he was attempting to land on runway 32, a 2,120-foot-long, 50-foot-wide, asphalt runway, when he realized he was going to land "long," and attempted a go-around. He applied full throttle; however, the airplane touched down about halfway down the runway, and veered to the left. The airplane departed the left side of runway, and came to rest on grass about 75 feet from the runway. The nose gear separated and the airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing and right horizontal stabilizer. The pilot stated that he did not experience any mechanical anomalies during the flight. He reported about 175 hours of total flight experience, all accumulated in the same make and model as the accident airplane. He also reported that winds at the time of the accident were from 200 degrees at 5 knots. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Delayed action-Pilot - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2010_ERA10CA278.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

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