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GAA16CA189

2016-04-08 · South St. Paul, Minnesota, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport SGS

Current FAA registration · N726T

Make / Model
TL ULTRALIGHT SRO TL-3000 SIRIUS
Year of manufacture
2013 · 3 years old at event
Engine
ROTAX 912ULS SERIES (100 hp)
Seats / Engines
2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
20130722
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A9BB7F

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's failure to maintain a proper landing flare in gusty wind conditions, which resulted in a hard landing and substantial damage to the firewall.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that he encountered gusty wind conditions and a "sudden low level wind shear" during the landing flare and touched down hard. During the landing roll, the pilot noticed that he could not steer the airplane to the left, but he was able to stop the airplane on the runway. During a postaccident inspection, evidence of a propeller strike was also observed. The firewall was substantially damaged. An automated weather observing system, about the time of the accident, at the accident airport reported the wind 330 degrees true at 16 knots gusting to 28 knots. The pilot reported that he landed on runway 34. The pilot did not report any mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot reported that he encountered gusty wind conditions and a "sudden low level wind shear" during the landing flare and touched down hard. During the landing roll, the pilot noticed that he could not steer the airplane to the left, but he was able to stop the airplane on the runway. During a postaccident inspection, evidence of a propeller strike was also observed. The firewall was substantially damaged. An automated weather observing system, about the time of the accident, at the accident airport reported the wind 330 degrees true at 16 knots gusting to 28 knots. The pilot reported that he landed on runway 34. The pilot did not report any mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded 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-Pilot - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Landing flare-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Gusts-Ability to respond/compensate - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2016_GAA16CA189.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (wind shear). All research papers