NTSB CAROL · Event
Event GAA16CA152
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll, which resulted in a runway excursion, a ground loop, and a collision with an airport sign.
Factual narrative
The pilot of a tailwheel equipped airplane reported that he encountered a crosswind during a wheel landing. During the landing roll, the pilot further reported that the airplane "drifted abruptly to the left" and he added right rudder, but the airplane departed the runway to the left. During the runway excursion, the airplane ground looped to the left and collided with an airport sign, the right main landing gear separated, and the right wing impacted the ground. A postaccident examination revealed substantial damage to right wing. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot of a tailwheel equipped airplane reported that he encountered a crosswind during a wheel landing. During the landing roll, the pilot further reported that the airplane "drifted abruptly to the left" and he added right rudder, but the airplane departed the runway to the left. During the runway excursion, the airplane ground looped to the left and collided with an airport sign, the right main landing gear separated, and the right wing impacted the ground. A postaccident examination revealed substantial damage to right wing. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12
NTSB Findings
Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or 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-Crosswind-Ability to respond/compensate
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2016_GAA16CA152.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (runway excursion). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- SKYbrary (Eurocontrol) 2024 · SKYbrary article
Runway Excursion — SKYbrary Knowledge Base
SKYbrary runway excursion review — RE-OE (overruns) + RE-LO (lateral). Risk drivers: long landing, high approach speed, contaminated surface, tailwind, mis-set autobrakes.
- NTSB Aircraft Accident Reports 2019 · Accident report
Embraer ERJ 175 Runway Excursion at Charlotte Douglas
Republic Airline ERJ-175 runway excursion CLT, January 2018. Examines a low-energy runway excursion involving misuse of autobrakes + thrust reverser response after a high-crosswind landing on a contam…
- NASA NTRS 2025 · Presentation
Uncovering Resilient Behavior in the Aviation Safety Reporting System Using Large Language Models
Resiliency is present in everyday life, both in system design and exhibited by the operators that function within these systems.
- NASA NTRS 2025 · Conference Paper
Uncovering Resilient Behavior in the Aviation Safety Reporting System Using Large Language Models
Resiliency is present in everyday life, both in system design and exhibited by the operators that function within these systems.
- arXiv 2024 · arXiv preprint
On the shape of ice stalagmites
The growth of ice stalagmites obtained by the solidification of impacting droplets on a cooled substrate ($-50^{\circ}$C to $-140^{\circ}$C) is investigated experimentally.
- Flight Safety Foundation 2024 · FSF / AeroSafety World
Runway Safety Initiative Final Report (RSI)
Foundation Runway Safety Initiative final report — comprehensive analysis of runway excursion + incursion risk drivers worldwide.
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗