NTSB CAROL · Event
Event ERA14CA291
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during landing in crosswind conditions, resulting in a loss of control and runway excursion.
Factual narrative
According to the student pilot, he was attempting a touch-and-go landing on runway 25, with a strong crosswind out of the north. The airplane touched down on the left main gear first, and the wind turned the airplane 45 degrees away from the runway heading. He attempted to regain directional control; however, he observed parked airplanes and a fueling station ahead. As the airplane departed the runway onto the grass, he attempted a go around. After becoming airborne, the nose gear and the left wing collided with a hill and the airplane bounced. The airplane stalled and came down on the nose and right wing tip before coming to a stop. A post-accident examination of the wreckage confirmed substantial damage to the firewall, both wings, and the aft fuselage. The pilot reported no pre-impact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. According to the student pilot, he was attempting a touch-and-go landing on runway 25, with a strong crosswind out of the north. The airplane touched down on the left main gear first, and the wind turned the airplane 45 degrees away from the runway heading. He attempted to regain directional control; however, he observed parked airplanes and a fueling station ahead. As the airplane departed the runway onto the grass, he attempted a go around. After becoming airborne, the nose gear and the left wing collided with a hill and the airplane bounced. The airplane stalled and came down on the nose and right wing tip before coming to a stop. A post-accident examination of the wreckage confirmed substantial damage to the firewall, both wings, and the aft fuselage. The pilot reported no pre-impact 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 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
- — Personnel issues-Experience/knowledge-Experience/qualifications-Total experience-Pilot
- — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Crosswind-Effect on operation
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2014_ERA14CA291.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 (stall, loss of control, runway excursion). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2017 · Conference paper
Energy Safety Management: Mitigating Loss of Control Inflight
Under the new Airman Certification Standards (ACS), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has mandated for the first time that private and commercial pilot candidates demonstrate understanding of …
- Semantic Scholar 2016 · Article (Interacción)
Trajectory Recovery System: Angle of Attack Guidance for Inflight Loss of Control
This paper describes the design and development of an ecological display to aid pilots in the recovery of an In-Flight Loss of Control event due to a Stall (ILOC-S).
- NTSB Aircraft Accident Reports 2010 · Accident report
Loss of Control on Approach — Colgan Air Flight 3407
Colgan Air 3407 / Continental Connection (Q400) Buffalo NY, February 12, 2009 — 50 fatalities. Definitive investigation of the Colgan 3407 stall-stick-pusher crash on approach to Buffalo.
- 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 …
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2025 · Journal article (JAAER)
A Scoping Review of Aviation Loss of Control Inflight Research
Loss of control – inflight (LOC-I) contributes to aircraft accidents at unacceptably high rates. Significant industry efforts and research have aimed to improve LOC-I prevention, detection, and recove…
- arXiv 2025 · arXiv preprint
Quadratic Programming Approach to Flight Envelope Protection Using Control Barrier Functions
Ensuring the safe operation of aerospace systems within their prescribed flight envelope is a fundamental requirement for modern flight control systems.
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