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ERA24LA090

2024-01-14 · Mooresville, North Carolina, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 14A

Current FAA registration · N512SP

Make / Model
CESSNA 172S
Year of manufacture
2000 · 24 years old at event
Engine
LYCOMING I0360 SER (180 hp)
Seats / Engines
4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
20000203
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A66A7B

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s failure to maintain control of the airplane during a go-around in gusting crosswind conditions.

Factual narrative

The pilot was attempting to land the airplane on a 3,170-ft-long by 40-ft-wide runway and reported that while on final approach he encountered a “heavy gusty crosswind.” The pilot described that after passing a tree line and realizing that he would not be able to land, he attempted a go-around. The last thing the pilot remembered was the airplane impacting trees. The airplane received substantial damage to both wings, the fuselage, and its empennage structure. Two witnesses to the accident stated that shortly after initiating the go-around, the airplane turned to the left, missing the trees lining the runway, but then impacted trees approximately 500-ft left of the runway centerline within the residential area of the air park community. The witnesses also described that the airplane started the go-around attempt near the midpoint of the runway. The pilot stated that there were no preimpact 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.

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

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2024_ERA24LA090.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (go-around). All research papers