ERA11CA494
2011-09-15 · Anderson, South Carolina, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport AND
N231K has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (SHARK AERO S R O SHARK 600), which was not involved in this event.
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during an attempted go-around.
Factual narrative
The pilot stated he landed the airplane on runway 5 and about half way down the runway the wind shifted to a strong tailwind and the tail raised up. The airplane veered to the left. He applied full power in order to prevent the airplane from turning, the airplane became airborne, but the pilot realized that there was not enough "airspeed" or runway remaining to perform the go around. Therefore, the pilot reduced the power, the left wing struck the ground, the left main landing gear collapsed, and the airplane came to rest in a grassy area on the left side of the runway. The airplane incurred substantial damage to the fuselage, firewall, and left wing during the accident sequence. The pilot reported there were no preexisting mechanical anomalies with the airplane. The wind reported at the airport about the time of the accident was from 280 degrees at 7 knots. The pilot stated that he landed the airplane, and, about halfway down the runway, the wind shifted to a strong tailwind and the airplane’s tail rose up. The airplane veered to the left, and the pilot applied full power to perform a go-around. The airplane became airborne, but the airspeed was inadequate; the left wing struck the ground, the left main landing gear collapsed, and the airplane came to rest in a grassy area on the left side of the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, firewall, and left wing. The 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 Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Delayed action-Pilot - C
- C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained - C
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2011_ERA11CA494.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
Search this event elsewhere
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Related research
Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (go-around). All research papers
- 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…