NTSB CAROL · Event
Event ERA14CA177
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot's failure to obtain the proper touchdown point while landing on a lake with a tailwind.
Factual narrative
The pilot of the amphibian airplane reported that he was attempting to land on a lake with a tailwind. He circled the landing zone once and verified that there was no debris in the water. During the landing flare, the airplane floated beyond the intended touchdown point and was nearing the shore. The pilot initially added power to go-around, but then reduced power when he did not think the airplane would clear the trees near the shoreline. The airplane subsequently nosed over and came to rest in the water. Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed substantial damage to both wings and the fuselage. The landing gear was retracted into the floats. The pilot added that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions with the airplane. The pilot of the amphibian airplane reported that he was attempting to land on a lake with a tailwind. He circled the landing zone once and verified that there was no debris in the water. During the landing flare, the airplane floated beyond the intended touchdown point and was nearing the shore. The pilot initially added power to go-around, but then reduced power when he did not think the airplane would clear the trees near the shoreline. The airplane subsequently nosed over and came to rest in the water. Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed substantial damage to both wings and the fuselage. The landing gear was retracted into the floats. The pilot added that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions with the airplane. 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-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
- C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Decision making/judgment-Pilot - C
- C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Descent/approach/glide path-Not attained/maintained - C
- — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Tailwind-Effect on operation
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2014_ERA14CA177.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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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.
- 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…
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