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GAA17CA024

2016-10-16 · Leesburg, Virginia, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport JYO

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's improper landing flare, which resulted in a hard landing and subsequent runway excursion.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that the airplane landed hard and he was unable to maintain directional control. The airplane exited the runway to the left, and upon contacting the grass nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, empennage, and right wing lift strut. The pilot reported that there were no pre impact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot reported that the airplane landed hard and he was unable to maintain directional control. The airplane exited the runway to the left, and upon contacting the grass nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, empennage, and right wing lift strut. The pilot reported that there were no pre impact 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
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Landing flare-Not attained/maintained - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2016_GAA17CA024.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (runway excursion). All research papers