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ERA15CA033

2014-10-24 · Apopka, Florida, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport X04

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The student pilots improper landing flare which resulted in a hard landing and loss of aircraft control. Contributing to the accident was the flight instructor's delayed remedial actions.

Factual narrative

According to the flight instructor, the student pilot was conducting touch and go landings. During an approach to land the stall warning horn sounded and the flight instructor told the student pilot to lower the nose of the airplane. As the airplane touched down it made a sharp turn to the right and the flight instructor announced "my controls" to the student pilot. The airplane "bounced" and contacted the grass to the right of the runway. The student pilot relinquished the flight controls to the flight instructor, who attempted to regain control of the airplane and conduct a go-around. The attempt was unsuccessful; the airplane veered off the left side of the runway, traveled down an embankment and collided with a hangar, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage and the right wing. Neither the flight instructor nor the student pilot reported any mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation prior to the accident. According to the flight instructor, the student pilot was conducting touch and go landings. During an approach to land the stall warning horn sounded and the flight instructor told the student pilot to lower the nose of the airplane. As the airplane touched down it made a sharp turn to the right and the flight instructor announced "my controls" to the student pilot. The airplane "bounced" and contacted the grass to the right of the runway. The student pilot relinquished the flight controls to the flight instructor, who attempted to regain control of the airplane and conduct a go-around. The attempt was unsuccessful; the airplane veered off the left side of the runway, traveled down an embankment and collided with a hangar, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage and the right wing. Neither the flight instructor nor the student pilot reported any mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation prior to 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-Landing flare-Incorrect use/operation - C
  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Student/instructed pilot - C
  • C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Delayed action-Instructor/check pilot - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2014_ERA15CA033.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (stall, go-around). All research papers