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GAA16CA013

2015-10-12 · Marana, Arizona, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport AVQ

Current FAA registration · N5581T

Make / Model
BEECH F33A
Year of manufacture
1989 · 26 years old at event
Engine
CONT MOTOR IO 520 SERIES (285 hp)
Seats / Engines
5 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19890612
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A71FB0

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The student pilot's failure to maintain sufficient airspeed during the base to final turn resulting in an inadvertent aerodynamic stall and impact with terrain during recovery by the flight instructor.

Factual narrative

According to the flight instructor, during the turn from base to the final, the stall warning horn sounded and the aircraft descent rate increased. The flight instructor reported that he told the student pilot to go-around, and the student increased the power, but the airplane continued to descend and touched down on the runway briefly. He reported that the student then tried to "pull" the airplane off of the runway and either failed to apply sufficient right rudder, or accidentally applied left rudder, and the airplane abruptly yawed to the left. The flight instructor reported that he immediately took control of the airplane which exited the runway to the left. The flight instructor recounted that the airplane continued accelerating a few feet off of the ground. He reported that the airplane's left main landing gear struck the ground, and the "left wing tip must have scraped" the ground at that instant. He reported that he regained control of the airplane, initiated a climb, and executed a go-around. The flight instructor contacted the pilot of an airplane that was holding short of the runway and asked the pilot to look at the landing gear as he made a low pass. The pilot on the ground confirmed that the landing gear was intact. The flight instructor landed the airplane and contacted the operator. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left aileron. The flight instructor reported that there were no mechanical failures or anomalies prior to or during the flight that would have prevented normal operation. According to the flight instructor, during the turn from base to the final, the stall warning horn sounded and the aircraft descent rate increased. The flight instructor reported that he told the student pilot to go-around, and the student increased the power, but the airplane continued to descend and touched down on the runway briefly. He reported that the student then tried to "pull" the airplane off of the runway and either failed to apply sufficient right rudder, or accidentally applied left rudder, and the airplane abruptly yawed to the left. The flight instructor reported that he immediately took control of the airplane which exited the runway to the left. The flight instructor recounted that the airplane continued accelerating a few feet off of the ground. He reported that the airplane's left main landing gear struck the ground, and the "left wing tip must have scraped" the ground at that instant. He reported that he regained control of the airplane, initiated a climb, and executed a go-around. The flight instructor contacted the pilot of an airplane that was holding short of the runway and asked the pilot to look at the landing gear as he made a low pass. The pilot on the ground confirmed that the landing gear was intact. The flight instructor landed the airplane and contacted the operator. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left aileron. The flight instructor reported that there were no mechanical failures or anomalies prior to or during the flight that would have prevented normal operation. 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-Student/instructed pilot - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Pitch control-Not attained/maintained - C
  • — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Descent rate-Not attained/maintained

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2015_GAA16CA013.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 (stall, go-around). All research papers