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ERA21LA041

2020-11-09 · Laconia, New Hampshire, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport LCI

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s failure to maintain adequate clearance from trees during an approach in sun glare and hazy conditions.

Factual narrative

The commercial pilot was attempting to land when he temporarily lost sight of the runway due to sun glare and haze. The airplane impacted trees short of the runway and sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and both wings. The pilot reported there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures of 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.

  • — Personnel issues-Psychological-Attention/monitoring-Monitoring environment-Pilot
  • — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Altitude-Not attained/maintained
  • — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Ceiling/visibility/precip-Haze/smoke-Effect on personnel
  • — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Light condition-Glare-Effect on personnel

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2020_ERA21LA041.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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