NTSB CAROL · Event
Event GAA16CA234
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot's failure to maintain directional control and lateral bank control during the aborted landing, which resulted in collision with terrain.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that he encountered a sudden wind shift during the landing flare, the right wing rose, and the airplane bounced during touchdown. The pilot further reported that he applied full power to abort the landing and became airborne. During the initial climb, the airplane continued to the left despite the pilot's full aileron application to the right, the left wing impacted terrain, and the airplane cartwheeled to a stop next to the runway. The fuselage and right wing sustained substantial damage. 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 a sudden wind shift during the landing flare, the right wing rose, and the airplane bounced during touchdown. The pilot further reported that he applied full power to abort the landing and became airborne. During the initial climb, the airplane continued to the left despite the pilot's full aileron application to the right, the left wing impacted terrain, and the airplane cartwheeled to a stop next to the runway. The fuselage and right wing sustained substantial damage. 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
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-Lateral/bank control-Not attained/maintained - C
- 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-Sudden wind shift-Response/compensation
- — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Crosswind-Response/compensation
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2016_GAA16CA234.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
Beyond the agency record
Search this event elsewhere.
Pre-filled searches into the sources where news + community discussion of aviation events lives. External sources are reported, not agency. Treat them as signal that something happened, not as fact about what happened.
Entity-clustered aviation events in the press — last 24 hr + 30-day archive.
Official agency record + docket.
Investigative docket: factual reports, photos, transcripts.
Long-running aviation incident database (Flight Safety Foundation).
Community NTSB synthesis blog — often has photos and witness reports.
Gold-standard aviation incident blog.
Aviation industry news search.
GA pilot forum — informed but rumor-prone.
GA pilot subreddit search.
Tail-number page — flight history (free tier limited).
AOPA Air Safety Institute search.
Mainstream press coverage. Recent events only.
Privacy-preserving news search.
External links open in a new tab. We don't ingest their content; we deep-link search queries.