NTSB CAROL · Event
Event GAA17CA031
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot’s decision to continue the unstabilized approach and his failure to extend the landing gear before landing.
Factual narrative
The pilot of a high performance complex airplane reported that during his fourth engine out practice landing, the airplane was "high and fast". He further reported that he wanted to keep the training realistic and elected not to go-around. The pilot continued the approach, but reported that he "felt behind the airplane." The airplane touched down with the landing gear retracted, skidded off the runway to the left, and impacted a runway light. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing The pilot reported no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot of a high-performance, complex airplane reported that, during his fourth engine-out practice landing, the airplane was "high and fast." He further reported that he wanted to keep the training realistic and chose not to go around. The pilot continued the approach but reported that he "felt behind the airplane." The airplane touched down with the landing gear retracted, skidded off the runway to the left, and impacted a runway light. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing The pilot reported no preaccident 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 Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Decision making/judgment-Pilot - C
- C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Use of equip/system-Pilot - C
- C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Descent/approach/glide path-Not attained/maintained - C
- C Aircraft-Aircraft systems-Landing gear system-Gear extension and retract sys-Not used/operated - C
- — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Runway/taxi/approach light-Contributed to outcome
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2016_GAA17CA031.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 (go-around, unstabilized approach). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2023 · Conference paper
Utilizing Deep Learning to Predict Unstabilized Approaches for General Aviation Aircraft
Unstabilized approaches pose a major hazard for general aviation aircraft. In the period from 2009 to 2019, 3,257 general aviation accidents occurred during the landing phase of flight in which loss o…
- NASA NTRS 2025 · Conference Paper
A Training Study to Improve Monitoring During A Go-Around
As part of an FAA program to improve go-around (GA) safety, we were asked to determine if we could improve the performance of the Pilot Monitoring (PM) during a GA maneuver.
- Flight Safety Foundation 2024 · FSF / AeroSafety World
Go-Around Safety Forum Findings
Foundation Go-Around Safety Forum technical findings — examines why pilots fail to execute go-arounds when criteria are met (stabilized approach gate not met, energy state out of envelope, traffic con…
- Semantic Scholar 2022 · Article (Journal of Safety Research)
Go-around accidents and general aviation safety.
INTRODUCTION Changes in General Aviation (GA) accident rates, specifically in the go-around phase, are examined by comparing the number of accidents, the proportion of fatal accidents, and the proport…
- Semantic Scholar 2021 · Article (Aerospace)
Classification and Analysis of Go-Arounds in Commercial Aviation Using ADS-B Data
Go-arounds are a necessary aspect of commercial aviation and are conducted after a landing attempt has been aborted. It is necessary to conduct go-arounds in the safest possible manner, as go-arounds …
- NASA NTRS 2021 · Accepted Manuscript (Version with final changes)
Go-Around Criteria Refinement for Transport Category Aircraft
Presently, airline pilots are trained to go around if, when lower than 500 ft above the ground, they are outside of a handful of parameters such as airspeed, position, and rate of descent.
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