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 ↗.
Search this event elsewhere
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Related research
Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (stall, go-around). All research papers
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As part of an FAA program to improve go-around (GA) safety, we were asked to determine if we could improve the performance of the Pilot Monitoring (PM) during a GA maneuver.
- Flight Safety Foundation 2024 · FSF / AeroSafety World Go-Around Safety Forum Findings
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