NTSB ERA25LA039 — 2024-10-26 · Fort Myers, Florida, United States

Current FAA registration · N94981

Make / Model: CESSNA T240
Year of manufacture: 2014 · 10 years old at event
Engine: CONT MOTOR TSIO-550-C (310 hp)
Seats / Engines: 4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date: 20140805
ADS-B equipped: Yes — Mode-S AD3221

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N94981 Cessna T240 None

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s inadequate compensation for the prevailing wind conditions while landing, which resulted in a runway excursion and collision with a sign.

Factual narrative

The pilot approached the destination airport and noted that the tower air traffic controller was very busy due to the traffic load, and because the runway most favorable for the prevailing wind was closed due to a disabled aircraft. The tower controller subsequently cleared pilot to land on a runway where a nearly direct left crosswind at 10 knots, gusting to 15 knots prevailed. The pilot described that upon landing, a gust of wind “pushed” the airplane off of the runway surface and it collided a taxiway sign. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing during the accident sequence. The 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.

— Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot
— Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Sign/marker-Effect on equipment
— Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained
— Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Crosswind-Response/compensation

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2024_ERA25LA039.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (runway excursion). All research papers