NTSB ERA23LA125 — 2023-02-06 · Pikeville, North Carolina, United States

Current FAA registration · N116CL

Make / Model: DIAMOND AIRCRAFT DA20-C1
Year of manufacture: 1998 · 25 years old at event
Engine: CONT MOTOR IO-200 (115 hp)
Seats / Engines: 2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date: 19980909
ADS-B equipped: Yes — Mode-S A042BA

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N116CL DIAMOND AIRCRAFT IND INC DA20-C1 None

Probable cause & findings

The student pilot’s failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll.

Factual narrative

The student pilot reported that during the fifth solo landing of the day the airplane began to yaw to the left of centerline after touching down. He applied right rudder but was unable to correct the yaw and the right main landing gear collapsed, which resulted in substantial damage to the main wing spar and fuselage. The student pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions 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.

— Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained
— Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Student/instructed pilot

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2023_ERA23LA125.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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