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ERA11CA446

2011-08-08 · St. Augustine, Florida, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport SGJ

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The student pilot's loss of directional control while attempting to close the airplane's door during takeoff roll.

Factual narrative

According to the student pilot, she completed one solo full stop landing in the pattern before the accident sequence. She taxied the airplane back to runway, was cleared for takeoff, and advanced the throttle to full forward. Soon she realized that the left door was open and she attempted to close it. According to the flight instructor monitoring the solo flight, the airplane departed the left side of the runway, bounced once, the nose wheel struck the ground, and the airplane came to rest inverted. The airplane incurred substantial damage to the firewall and empennage. The student pilot reported there were no preexisting mechanical anomalies with the airplane. According to the student pilot, she completed one solo full-stop landing in the traffic pattern before the accident sequence. She taxied the airplane back to runway, was cleared for takeoff, and advanced the throttle to full forward. Soon she realized that the left door was open and she attempted to close it. According to the flight instructor monitoring the solo flight, the airplane departed the left side of the runway, bounced once, the nose wheel struck the ground, and the airplane came to rest inverted. The airplane incurred substantial damage to the firewall and empennage. The student pilot reported there were no preexisting mechanical anomalies with the airplane. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Unneccessary action-Pilot - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2011_ERA11CA446.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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