NTSB CAROL · Event
Event ERA20CA298
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot and owner’s failure to adequately communicate and establish an understanding of who was flying the airplane, and their failure to take timely action to avoid a collision with terrain.
Factual narrative
The purpose of the flight was for the pilots to calibrate a newly installed avionic equipment in the airplane. The owner of the airplane was seated in the airplane’s right seat, while the other pilot, who was acting as pilot-in-command for the flight was seated in the left seat. After takeoff, the pilot handed off controls to the owner and requested that the owner perform two 360° turns while he calibrated the equipment. After the two turns, the owner let go of the flight controls and the pilot manipulated the controls to demonstrate the functioning of the g-meter. Both the pilot and the owner believed the other was flying the airplane after this demonstration. After deciding that they would return to the departure airport, the airplane was flying low and almost impacted the ground twice. On both occasions, the pilot pulled up, then once again let go of the controls believing that the owner was flying the airplane. Both expressed discomfort with how the other was flying the airplane, but neither communicated their concerns to the other in a way that was understood, nor did either confirm who was flying the airplane. The third time the airplane neared terrain, the owner called for the pilot to pull up just as the pilot was about to take control of the airplane. The airplane then impacted a field, flipped over, and came to rest inverted. The fuselage, wings, and empennage of the airplane sustained substantial damage. Both the pilot and owner stated that there were no preimpact malfunctions or failures of 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 Personnel issues-Task performance-Communication (personnel)-Lack of communication-Pilot
- C Personnel issues-Task performance-Communication (personnel)-Lack of communication-Owner/builder
- — Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Delayed action-Owner/builder
- — Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Delayed action-Pilot
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2020_ERA20CA298.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). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- 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 …
- arXiv 2023 · arXiv preprint
Automating Bird Diverter Installation through Multi-Aerial Robots and Signal Temporal Logic Specifications
This paper tackles the task assignment and trajectory generation problem for bird diverter installation using a fleet of multi-rotors.
- arXiv 2023 · arXiv preprint
Variation of Critical Crystallization Pressure for the Formation of Square Ice in Graphene Nanocapillaries
Two-dimensional square ice in graphene nanocapillaries at room temperature is a fascinating phenomenon and has been confirmed experimentally.
- arXiv 2023 · arXiv preprint
Polycrystallinity enhances stress build-up around ice
Damage caused by freezing wet, porous materials is a widespread problem, but is hard to predict or control. Here, we show that polycrystallinity makes a great difference to the stress build-up process…
- arXiv 2022 · arXiv preprint
Enhanced Prediction of Three-dimensional Finite Iced Wing Separated Flow Near Stall
Icing on three-dimensional wings causes severe flow separation near stall. Standard improved delayed detached eddy simulation (IDDES) is unable to correctly predict the separating reattaching flow due…
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2021 · Journal article (JAAER)
Analysis on the Negative Emotional, Physiological, and Cognitive Responses Elicited from of the Activation of a Stall Alarm
Failing to identify an aerodynamic stall can lead to the inability of an aircraft to sustain flight. To warn pilots of an impending or fully-developed stall, many aircraft have safety devices installe…
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