NTSB CAROL · Event
Event ERA15CA057
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot's failure to properly set the throttle prior to engine start, which resulted in a loss of control and collision with a hangar.
Factual narrative
The pilot had planned to depart on a local solo flight. He completed a preflight inspection of the airplane, which was parked outside of the pilot's hangar and pointed towards a set of hangars about 50 feet away. The pilot then primed the cylinders of the 335-horsepower engine with the throttle in the full open position, but forgot to retard the throttle to a one quarter position before starting the engine. When the engine started the airplane "leaped forward." The pilot quickly applied brakes, but the airplane accelerated across the taxiway and struck the opposing hangar and a parked airplane, which resulted in substantial damage to left wing. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that could have precluded normal operation. The pilot had planned to depart on a local solo flight. He completed a preflight inspection of the airplane, which was parked outside of the pilot's hangar and pointed towards a set of hangars about 50 feet away. The pilot then primed the cylinders of the 335-horsepower engine with the throttle in the full open position, but forgot to retard the throttle to a one quarter position before starting the engine. When the engine started the airplane "leaped forward." The pilot quickly applied brakes, but the airplane accelerated across the taxiway and struck the opposing hangar and a parked airplane, which resulted in substantial damage to left wing. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that could 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 power plant-Engine controls-Power lever-Incorrect use/operation - C
- C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Use of equip/system-Pilot - C
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2014_ERA15CA057.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 (loss of control). 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 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…
- SKYbrary (Eurocontrol) 2024 · SKYbrary article
Loss of Control In-Flight (LOC-I) — SKYbrary Knowledge Base
SKYbrary comprehensive knowledge-base entry on Loss of Control In-Flight — definitions, contributing factors, accident case studies (Air France 447, Colgan 3407), and prevention strategies.
- NTSB Aircraft Accident Reports 2022 · Accident report
Loss of Control on Takeoff in Icing Conditions — Citation 560XL
Cessna Citation 560XL fatal takeoff icing accident, March 2018. Investigation of a Citation 560XL loss-of-control takeoff accident in icing conditions.
- Semantic Scholar 2021 · Article (Aviation)
ANALYSIS OF GENERAL AVIATION FIXED-WING AIRCRAFT ACCIDENTS INVOLVING INFLIGHT LOSS OF CONTROL USING A STATE-BASED APPROACH
Inflight loss of control (LOC-I) is a significant cause of General Aviation (GA) fixed-wing aircraft accidents. The United States National Transportation Safety Board’s database provides a rich source…
- NASA NTRS 2021 · Presentation
Use of Design of Experiments in Determining Neural Network Architectures for Loss of Control Detection
Abstract—We describe empirical methods for selecting a neural network architecture to implement belief state inference on generic commercial transport aircraft.
- NASA NTRS 2021 · Conference Paper
Use of Design of Experiments in Determining Neural Network Architectures for Loss of Control Detection
We describe empirical methods for selecting a neural network architecture to implement belief state inference on generic commercial transport aircraft.
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