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Atlas / NTSB / ERA12CA414

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event ERA12CA414

2012-06-23 West Milford, New Jersey, United States Airport · 4N1 None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's improper full flap retraction while performing a go-around maneuver, which resulted in a loss of airplane control.

Factual narrative

According to the pilot, the airplane bounced during the landing. He added power in an attempt to recover, but then decided to perform a go-around maneuver. He performed the go-around checklist; however, he inadvertently retracted the flaps to the zero degree, or "UP" position, instead of the required 20 degree flap position. The airplane settled onto the grass to the left of the runway and struck bushes and cement blocks located about 150 feet off the runway, which resulted in substantial damage to the horizontal stabilizer. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. According to the pilot, the airplane bounced during the landing. He added power in an attempt to recover, but then decided to perform a go-around maneuver. He performed the go-around checklist; however, he inadvertently retracted the flaps to the zero degree, or "UP" position, instead of the required 20 degree flap position. The airplane settled onto the grass to the left of the runway and struck bushes and cement blocks located about 150 feet off the runway, which resulted in substantial damage to the horizontal stabilizer. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. 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-Action-Incorrect action performance-Pilot - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft structures-Wing structure-Trailing edge flaps-Incorrect use/operation - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2012_ERA12CA414.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Related research

What the literature says.

Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (go-around). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.

Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗