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GAA16CA147

2016-03-12 · Pearland, Texas, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport LVJ

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll in gusty wind conditions, which resulted in a runway excursion and a collision with an airport sign.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that during the landing roll in gusty wind conditions with aileron corrections applied, the airplane began to weather vane to the left. He further reported that as the airplane slowed down the landing gear tires "suddenly regained traction". Subsequently, the airplane veered to the right, departed the runway, and the right main landing gear impacted an airport sign and collapsed. The right wing sustained substantial damage. 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 reported that during the landing roll in gusty wind conditions with aileron corrections applied, the airplane began to weather vane to the left. He further reported that as the airplane slowed down the landing gear tires "suddenly regained traction". Subsequently, the airplane veered to the right, departed the runway, and the right main landing gear impacted an airport sign and collapsed. The right wing sustained substantial damage.   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
  • — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Gusts-Awareness of condition

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2016_GAA16CA147.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 (runway excursion). All research papers