NTSB CAROL · Event
Event ERA12CA325
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot's failure to remove the flight control lock before takeoff.
Factual narrative
After doing an engine runup the pilot taxied onto the runway and started his takeoff roll. At approximately 60 knots indicated airspeed he attempted to rotate for takeoff and realized that the control wheel would not move when he attempted to pull back on it. He then observed that the flight control lock was still installed so he attempted to remove it. He pulled on the flight control lock, but it would not come out. He then observed that he was approaching the airport perimeter fence so he shut down the engine and attempted to use the elevator trim to raise the nose. The airplane then impacted the fence, bounced off a road, and struck trees. Post accident examination of the airplane revealed that the wings and fuselage were substantially damaged. Checklist procedures for the airplane required that the control wheel lock for the airplane be removed during the preflight inspection, and the flight controls be checked prior to takeoff, to assure that they were free and correct. However, during a post accident interview the pilot advised that he did not use the checklist. After doing an engine runup the pilot taxied onto the runway and started his takeoff roll. During the attempted takeoff, the pilot realized that the control wheel would not move aft when he tried to pull back on it. He saw that the flight control lock was still installed, so he attempted to remove it but was not successful. The airplane was approaching the airport perimeter fence, so the pilot aborted the takeoff. The airplane impacted the fence, crossed a road, and struck trees. Postaccident examination revealed substantial damage to the airplane’s wings and fuselage. Checklist procedures for the airplane required that the control wheel lock for the airplane be removed during the preflight inspection, and that the flight controls be checked prior to takeoff to ensure free and correct operation before takeoff. However, during a postaccident interview, the pilot stated that he did not use the checklist. 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-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Use of equip/system-Pilot - C
- C Aircraft-Aircraft systems-Flight control system-Gust lock or damper-Incorrect use/operation - C
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2012_ERA12CA325.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
Beyond the agency record
Search this event elsewhere.
Pre-filled searches into the sources where news + community discussion of aviation events lives. External sources are reported, not agency. Treat them as signal that something happened, not as fact about what happened.
Entity-clustered aviation events in the press — last 24 hr + 30-day archive.
Official agency record + docket.
Investigative docket: factual reports, photos, transcripts.
Long-running aviation incident database (Flight Safety Foundation).
Community NTSB synthesis blog — often has photos and witness reports.
Gold-standard aviation incident blog.
Aviation industry news search.
GA pilot forum — informed but rumor-prone.
GA pilot subreddit search.
Tail-number page — flight history (free tier limited).
AOPA Air Safety Institute search.
Mainstream press coverage. Recent events only.
Privacy-preserving news search.
External links open in a new tab. We don't ingest their content; we deep-link search queries.
Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (stall). 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 2026 · Conference Paper
Computational Analysis of Steady State Aerodynamics of Transonic Truss-Braced Wing Configuration in Deep Stall
This study presents a computational investigation of steady state aerodynamics of the Subsonic Ultra-Green Aircraft Research (SUGAR) Transonic Truss-Braced Wing (TTBW) configuration over a wide range …
- arXiv 2023 · arXiv preprint
Automating Bird Diverter Installation through Multi-Aerial Robots and Signal Temporal Logic Specifications
This paper tackles the task assignment and trajectory generation problem for bird diverter installation using a fleet of multi-rotors.
- arXiv 2023 · arXiv preprint
Variation of Critical Crystallization Pressure for the Formation of Square Ice in Graphene Nanocapillaries
Two-dimensional square ice in graphene nanocapillaries at room temperature is a fascinating phenomenon and has been confirmed experimentally.
- arXiv 2023 · arXiv preprint
Polycrystallinity enhances stress build-up around ice
Damage caused by freezing wet, porous materials is a widespread problem, but is hard to predict or control. Here, we show that polycrystallinity makes a great difference to the stress build-up process…
- arXiv 2022 · arXiv preprint
Enhanced Prediction of Three-dimensional Finite Iced Wing Separated Flow Near Stall
Icing on three-dimensional wings causes severe flow separation near stall. Standard improved delayed detached eddy simulation (IDDES) is unable to correctly predict the separating reattaching flow due…
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2021 · Journal article (JAAER)
Analysis on the Negative Emotional, Physiological, and Cognitive Responses Elicited from of the Activation of a Stall Alarm
Failing to identify an aerodynamic stall can lead to the inability of an aircraft to sustain flight. To warn pilots of an impending or fully-developed stall, many aircraft have safety devices installe…
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗