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GAA15CA276

2015-09-24 · Van Nuys, California, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport VNY

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's failure to compensate for turbulence during the landing flare, which resulted in a hard landing and runway excursion.

Factual narrative

The student pilot reported that during the landing, as he began to flare, the airplane was, "hit with the first blast of wake turbulence", from a helicopter that was hovering on the helipad to the left of the runway. The airplane landed hard, exited the runway to the right, and collided with a runway sign. According to the Meteorological Terminal Aviation Routine Weather Report (METAR) at the airport, the temperature was 99 degrees Fahrenheit and the wind was variable at 4 knots. The helicopter pad was located over 400 feet to the east of the location that the pilot reported encountering the blast of wake turbulence. The student pilot reported that during the landing, as he began to flare, the airplane was, "hit with the first blast of wake turbulence", from a helicopter that was hovering on the helipad to the left of the runway. The airplane landed hard, exited the runway to the right, and collided with a runway sign.   According to the meteorological terminal aviation routine weather report (METAR) at the airport, the temperature was 99 degrees Fahrenheit and the wind was variable at 4 knots. The helicopter pad was located over 400 feet to the east of the location that the pilot reported encountering the blast of wake turbulence. Due to the distance of the helicopter pad from the event location, the ambient temperature, and lack of significant wind, it is likely the student pilot encountered thermal related turbulence on short final. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Landing flare-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Lateral/bank control-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Turbulence-Convective turbulence-Effect on operation - C
  • — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Temp/humidity/pressure-High temperature-Effect on operation

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2015_GAA15CA276.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, wake turbulence, turbulence). All research papers