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ERA23LA339

2023-08-09 · Princeton, New Jersey, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 39N

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s inadequate compensation for the prevailing wind conditions during takeoff, which resulted in a loss of control and subsequent collision with trees.

Factual narrative

The student pilot was practicing solo takeoffs and landings in the airport traffic pattern. He successfully completed two takeoffs and landings. He then decided to attempt a soft-field technique takeoff. As the airplane began to lift off the ground, the pilot reported that an unexpected gust of wind from the northwest caught him off guard, and he lost control of the airplane. The airplane subsequently collided with trees, resulting in substantial damage to both wings. The pilot reported that there were no pre-impact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have prevented normal operation of the airplane. 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-Pilot
  • — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Gusts-Response/compensation

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2023_ERA23LA339.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (icing, loss of control). All research papers