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GAA16CA144

2016-03-02 · Clinton, Arkansas, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 2A2

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's failure to maintain direction control during the landing roll, which resulted in runway excursion, and collision with a fence.

Factual narrative

The pilot of the tailwheel equipped airplane reported that during the landing roll in gusty wind conditions, the airplane veered off the runway to the left, despite him "standing" on the right brake with full right rudder applied. The pilot further reported that he did not apply enough back pressure to enable the tailwheel steering to lock. The airplane ground looped, and slid into a fence. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. According to the pilot there were no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot of the tailwheel equipped airplane reported that during the landing roll in gusty wind conditions, the airplane veered off the runway to the left, despite him "standing" on the right brake with full right rudder applied.  The pilot further reported that he did not apply enough back pressure to enable the tailwheel steering to lock. The airplane ground looped, and slid into a fence. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. According to the pilot there were no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2016_GAA16CA144.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 (runway excursion). All research papers