Skip to content

Atlas / NTSB / ERA14CA213

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event ERA14CA213

2014-04-29 Fort Pierce, Florida, United States Airport · FPR None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The instructor's failure to obtain the proper touchdown point in a multiengine airplane, during a single-engine approach in a strong gusty headwind.

Factual narrative

The instructor of the multiengine airplane reported that he and the student pilot had intentionally shutdown and secured the right engine for training purposes; however, they were unable to get it restarted. The instructor then flew the airplane back to the departure airport and extended the landing gear while on a 2-mile left base leg of the airport traffic pattern for runway 14. After the landing gear was extended, the instructor noticed a high descent rate and subsequently raised the landing gear, which arrested the descent. At that point, the tower controller reported that the wind was from 130 degrees at 20 knots, gusting to 35 knots. The instructor extended the landing gear again when the airplane was established on final approach at the proper glidepath, but the descent rate again increased and the wind started to gust on short final approach. The airplane subsequently touched down prior to the approach end of runway 14, in a grass drainage basin of a perpendicular runway. During the landing, the right wing struck the ground and the nosegear collapsed before the airplane came to rest upright in the basin. With the exception of the inability to restart the right engine, the instructor did not report any preimpact mechanical malfunctions with the airplane. Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed substantial damage to the right wing and fuselage. The inspector did not observe any preimpact mechanical malfunctions. The instructor of the multiengine airplane reported that he and the student pilot had intentionally shutdown and secured the right engine for training purposes; however, they were unable to get it restarted. The instructor then flew the airplane back to the departure airport and extended the landing gear while on a 2-mile left base leg of the airport traffic pattern for runway 14. After the landing gear was extended, the instructor noticed a high descent rate and subsequently raised the landing gear, which arrested the descent. At that point, the tower controller reported that the wind was from 130 degrees at 20 knots, gusting to 35 knots. The instructor extended the landing gear again when the airplane was established on final approach at the proper glidepath, but the descent rate again increased and the wind started to gust on short final approach. The airplane subsequently touched down prior to the approach end of runway 14, in a grass drainage basin of a perpendicular runway. During the landing, the right wing struck the ground and the nosegear collapsed before the airplane came to rest upright in the basin. With the exception of the inability to restart the right engine, the instructor did not report any preimpact mechanical malfunctions with the airplane. Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed substantial damage to the right wing and fuselage. The inspector did not observe any preimpact mechanical malfunctions. 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 Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Descent/approach/glide path-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Instructor/check pilot - C
  • Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-High wind-Effect on operation
  • Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Gusts-Effect on operation

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2014_ERA14CA213.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. 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 ↗