GAA17CA048
2016-10-26 · Palo Alto, California, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport PAO
Current FAA registration · N387CS
- Make / Model
- CESSNA 182T
- Year of manufacture
- 2011 · 5 years old at event
- Engine
- LYCOMING IO-540-AB1A5 (230 hp)
- Seats / Engines
- 4 seats · 1 engine
- Last airworthiness date
- 20110908
- ADS-B equipped
- Yes — Mode-S A4758E
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot's failure to perform a go-around when he recognized that the airplane was high and fast during the final approach, which resulted in an improper landing flare and a hard landing.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that during the final approach the airplane was "high and fast" and touched down hard. The pilot further reported that the airplane became airborne again and during the second touchdown the nose gear collapsed. Subsequently, the airplane slid to a stop coming to rest on the right edge of the runway. The fuselage and firewall sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot reported that during the final approach the airplane was "high and fast" and touched down hard. The pilot further reported that the airplane became airborne again and during the second touchdown the nose gear collapsed. Subsequently, the airplane slid to a stop coming to rest on the right edge of the runway. The fuselage and firewall sustained substantial damage. 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
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-Incorrect use/operation - C
- C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Decision making/judgment-Pilot - C
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2016_GAA17CA048.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.
- TallyAero Live Wire Aviation press
- NTSB CAROL Agency ↗
- NTSB Docket Agency ↗
- Aviation Safety Network Aviation press ↗
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- Pilots of America Community ↗
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Related research
Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (go-around). All research papers
- 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.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Conference Paper Validation of Proposed Go-Around Criteria Under Various Environmental Conditions
This paper evaluates the effects of environmental conditions on touchdown performance under varying approach states and validates proposed go-around criteria developed using data from a previously con…