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GAA17CA240

2017-04-21 · Wenatchee, Washington, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport EAT

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s improper landing flare and subsequent failure to adequately compensate for gusting wind conditions during a go-around.

Factual narrative

The pilot of the tundra tire–equipped, tailwheel airplane reported that, the airplane landed hard and "bounced pretty good". He applied power to go-around, but during the crosswind turn, a downdraft pushed the airplane to the ground, and subsequently the airplane impacted trees. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, empennage, and both wings. After multiple requests, the pilot did not return the National Transportation Safety Board Form 6120.1 Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident/Incident Report as requested. A review of recorded data from the automated weather observation station, located on the airport, reported that about 15 minutes before the accident the wind was from 170° at 7 knots, gusting 16 knots. It's unknown which direction the airplane was landing. The pilot of the tundra-tire-equipped, tailwheel airplane reported that the airplane landed hard and "bounced pretty good." He applied power to go around, but during the crosswind turn, a downdraft pushed the airplane to the ground. Subsequently, the airplane impacted trees. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, empennage, and both wings. After multiple requests, the pilot did not return the National Transportation Safety Board Form 6120.1 Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident/Incident Report. A review of recorded data from the automated weather observation station located on the airport reported that, about 15 minutes before the accident, the wind was from 170° at 7 knots, gusting to 16 knots. It is unknown which direction the airplane was landing. 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-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Gusts-Response/compensation - C
  • — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Tree(s)-Contributed to outcome

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2017_GAA17CA240.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 (go-around). All research papers