GAA17CA160

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that during a solo night flight, he "landed long" and was unable to complete a touch-and-go as planned. The airport did not have a parallel taxiway leading to the departure end of the runway, so the pilot taxied onto the ramp area to turn around. During the taxi on the ramp the lighting was "poor" and the right wingtip struck a hangar. He reported that he "did not realize" the right wing struck the hangar and continued the flight back to his home airport. After landing and securing the airplane, he noticed the right wing was damaged and told the flight school maintenance personnel. A post-accident review revealed the airplane had sustained substantial damage to its right-wing rear spar. The pilot reported that there were no pre-accident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. According to the flight school's flight operations manual, flight operations were not permitted at the accident airport due to the requirement for the runway to be at least 4000 ft. long. The accident airport runway was 3,005 ft. long. In addition, the manual prohibited touch-and-go landings at night. The pilot reported that, during a solo night flight, he "landed long" and was unable to complete a touch-and-go as planned. The airport did not have a parallel taxiway leading to the departure end of the runway, so the pilot taxied onto the ramp area to turn around. During the taxi on the ramp, the lighting was "poor," and the right wing tip struck a hangar. He reported that he "did not realize" the right wing struck the hangar and continued the flight back to his home airport. After landing and securing the airplane, the pilot noticed that the right wing was damaged and told flight school maintenance personnel. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that it had sustained substantial damage to its right-wing rear spar. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. According to the flight school's flight operations manual, flight operations were not permitted at the accident airport due to the requirement for the runway to be at least 4,000 ft long. The accident airport runway was 3,005 ft long. In addition, the manual prohibited touch-and-go landings at night. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

• C Personnel issues-Psychological-Attention/monitoring-Monitoring environment-Pilot - C
• C Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Airport structure-Effect on operation - C
• — Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Decision making/judgment-Pilot
• — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Light condition-Low light-Effect on personnel