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GAA17CA219

2017-04-02 · Millbrook, New York, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 44N

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s failure to maintain adequate airspeed and his exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack during landing with a crosswind, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and an off-runway landing.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that during approach, after fully extending the flaps, he felt the airplane was descending too quickly, so he added power. He added that "the aircraft was nearly down when [a] crosswind" drifted the airplane off the runway centerline. The pilot added more power, but the stall warning horn sounded and the nose dropped down. The airplane impacted a drainage pond to the left of the runway and came to rest inverted. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings and empennage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot reported that, during approach and after fully extending the flaps, he felt the airplane was descending too quickly, so he added power. He added that "the aircraft was nearly down when [a] crosswind" drifted the airplane off the runway centerline. The pilot added more power, but the stall warning horn sounded, and the nose dropped. The airplane impacted a drainage pond to the left of the runway and came to rest inverted. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings and empennage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions 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-Angle of attack-Capability exceeded - C
  • — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Crosswind-Effect on operation
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Airspeed-Not attained/maintained - C
  • — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Terrain-(general)-Contributed to outcome

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2017_GAA17CA219.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 (stall). All research papers