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ERA21LA158

2021-03-04 · Hampton, Georgia, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport HMP

Current FAA registration · N150VR

Make / Model
VASHON AIRCRAFT RANGER R7
Year of manufacture
2019 · 2 years old at event
Engine
CONT MOTOR O-200-D (100 hp)
Seats / Engines
2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
20190325
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A0CC1A

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The student pilot’s improper flare while landing with a gusting crosswind which resulted in a hard landing and separation of the left landing gear.

Factual narrative

The student pilot was landing at the conclusion of his first solo cross-country flight with a 6 knot crosswind gusting to 14 knots. He aborted two attempts to land and was on his third landing attempt when he “flared too early and had a hard landing,” which resulted in the separation of the airplane’s left main landing gear. The student pilot subsequently landed on the two remaining landing gear, and the airplane departed the runway’s left side and came to rest upright with substantial damage to the fuselage, wing, and horizontal stabilizer. The student 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.

  • — Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Student/instructed pilot
  • — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Landing flare-Not attained/maintained
  • — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Crosswind-Effect on operation

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2021_ERA21LA158.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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