ERA20CA072

Factual narrative

The flight instructor said he was providing instruction to the private pilot who had recently purchased a share in the airplane. They had been practicing landings on runway 23 and both had felt wind gusts on the previous landings. Just before the airplane touched down for its fifth practice landing, a gust of wind lifted the airplane's left wing and the airplane was pushed to the right. The private pilot attempted to correct for the gust and the airplane bounced on all three-landing gear and became airborne. The flight instructor told the private pilot to add power and go around. Another gust of wind pushed the airplane further to the right and the airplane was now "clearly in a loss of control state." The flight instructor took the controls, but the airplane was already in a full stall, with full power and full flaps extended. The airplane impacted the ground adjacent to the runway. The private pilot stated that when the airplane touched down a gust of wind pushed the airplane to the right. The flight instructor yelled for full power and said, "my airplane." The wind pushed the airplane further to the right and the airplane impacted a ditch and spun around on the propeller. The airplane's left main landing gear strut was bent aft, which resulted in substantial damage to the left wing spar fitting. The underside of the fuselage aft of the firewall, the propeller, and the nose wheel were also damaged. The private pilot reported there were no mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Weather reported at the airport around the time of the accident included wind from 150° at 9 knots, 5 miles visibility, haze, and clear skies. The flight instructor reported that he was providing instruction to the private pilot who had recently purchased a share in the airplane. They had been practicing landings and had felt wind gusts on the previous landings. Just before the airplane touched down for the fifth practice landing, a wind gust lifted the left wing, and the airplane was pushed right. The pilot attempted to correct for the gust, but the airplane bounced on all three landing gear and became airborne. The instructor told the pilot to add power and go around. Another wind gust pushed the airplane further right, and the airplane was now "clearly in a loss of control state." The instructor took the controls, but the airplane was already in a full stall with full power and full flaps extended. The airplane impacted ground adjacent to the runway. The pilot stated that, when the airplane touched down, a wind gust pushed the airplane right. The instructor yelled for full power and said, "my airplane." The wind pushed the airplane further right and the airplane impacted a ditch and spun around on the propeller. The left-wing spar fitting sustained substantial damage. The underside of the fuselage aft of the firewall, the propeller, and the nosewheel were also damaged. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

• C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
• C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-(general)-Not attained/maintained - C
• C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Delayed action-Instructor/check pilot - C
• C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Instructor/check pilot - C
• C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained - C
• C Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Crosswind-Effect on operation - C