Skip to content

ERA13CA120

2013-01-26 · Lake City, Florida, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 15FL

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll.

Factual narrative

While landing on the 25-foot wide runway, the airplane drifted to the right of the runway centerline. The pilot applied engine power in an attempt to abort the landing, but the airplane continued to the right and departed the side of the runway. The right wing subsequently contacted the ground and the main landing gear collapsed, resulting in substantial damage to the right wing. The pilot stated that there were no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane, and that “better piloting” and a “wider runway” could have prevented the accident. While landing on the 25-foot-wide runway, the airplane drifted to the right of the runway centerline. The pilot increased engine power in an attempt to abort the landing, but the airplane continued to the right and departed the runway. The right wing contacted the ground and the main landing gear collapsed, resulting in substantial damage to the right wing. The pilot stated that there were no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane and that better piloting and a wider runway could have prevented the accident. 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-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2013_ERA13CA120.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.