Skip to content

ERA20CA146

2020-04-01 · Hollywood, Florida, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport HWO

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s failure to apply full engine power during the initiation of a go-around in gusting wind conditions and his exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall at low altitude, and the flight instructor's delayed remedial action.

Factual narrative

The flight instructor reported that during a flight review, the private pilot had completed 6 touch and go landings, in gusty wind conditions. During the subsequent approach, while the airplane was in the landing flare, a strong wind gust forced the airplane out of ground effect, and the instructor called for a go-around. The instructor reported during the go-around, the private pilot did not add full power, and he took the flight controls, however, as he did so, the airplane was already in an aerodynamic stall. Subsequently, the airplane descended, rolled to the left, and impacted the left side of the runway, where it continued into the grass and nosed over. The right wing and vertical stabilizer sustained substantial damage. The flight instructor reported that there were no mechanical malfunction or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operations. The flight instructor reported that, during a flight review, the private pilot completed five touch-and-go landings in gusting wind conditions. During the landing flare for the sixth touch-and-go landing, a strong wind gust forced the airplane out of ground effect, and the instructor called for a go-around. During the go-around, the pilot did not add full power, and the instructor took the flight controls; however, the airplane had already stalled. Subsequently, the airplane descended, impacted the left side of the runway, continued off the runway into grass, and nosed over. The right wing and vertical stabilizer sustained substantial damage. The instructor reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunction or failures 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-Use of equip/system-Pilot - C
  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
  • C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Delayed action-Instructor/check pilot - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Angle of attack-Capability exceeded - C
  • C Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Gusts-Effect on operation - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2020_ERA20CA146.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.

Related research

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