Skip to content

Atlas / NTSB / ERA22LA197

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event ERA22LA197

2022-04-15 Tuskegee, Alabama, United States Airport · 06A None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s inadequate compensation for the gusty crosswind wind conditions which resulted in a hard landing and subsequent nose gear collapse.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that while landing and during the landing flare, a gust of wind caused the airplane to drift off centerline and the nose to rise. The airplane ballooned, then subsequently bounced hard before ballooning a second time. The nose dropped sharply, and the pilot was unable to control the airplane before it struck the runway hard on the nose landing gear, causing the landing gear to collapse and fold back, which resulted in substantial damage to the engine compartment, firewall and underside of the airframe. The pilot stated that there were no pre accident mechanical failures or malfunctions with 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).

  • Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained
  • Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot
  • Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Gusts-Response/compensation
  • Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Crosswind-Response/compensation

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2022_ERA22LA197.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.