NTSB CAROL · Event
Event GAA17CA326
Registry · N6511S
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
CESSNA 150H
Engine
CONT MOTOR 0-200 SERIES (100 hp)
Seats / Engines
2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19671001
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A892FD
Registrant of record
GBY AERO LLC
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The student pilot's decision to attempt to close the cockpit window during takeoff and his subsequent failure to maintain directional control.
Factual narrative
The solo student pilot reported that, during the takeoff roll the pilot's side window blew open as full power was applied. He added that he "reached over with [his] right hand to close [the] window," but as he did so, the airplane veered off the runway to the left into a wooded area and impacted terrain. The student pilot reported that he had noticed on previous flights that the window latch was loose, and he had planned to get it fixed, but had not done so. Both wings sustained substantial damage. The student pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The solo student pilot reported that, during the takeoff roll, the pilot's side window blew open as full power was applied. He added that he "reached over with [his] right hand to close [the] window," but as he did so, the airplane veered off the runway to the left into a wooded area and impacted terrain. The student pilot reported that he had noticed on previous flights that the window latch was loose and that he had planned to get it fixed but had not done so. Both wings sustained substantial damage. The student pilot reported that there were 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-Student/instructed pilot - C
- C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Incorrect action selection-Student/instructed pilot - C
- C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained - C
- C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
- — Personnel issues-Task performance-Inspection-Preflight inspection-Student/instructed pilot
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2017_GAA17CA326.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
Beyond the agency record
Search this event elsewhere.
Pre-filled searches into the sources where news + community discussion of aviation events lives. External sources are reported, not agency. Treat them as signal that something happened, not as fact about what happened.
Entity-clustered aviation events in the press — last 24 hr + 30-day archive.
Official agency record + docket.
Investigative docket: factual reports, photos, transcripts.
Long-running aviation incident database (Flight Safety Foundation).
Community NTSB synthesis blog — often has photos and witness reports.
Gold-standard aviation incident blog.
Aviation industry news search.
GA pilot forum — informed but rumor-prone.
GA pilot subreddit search.
Tail-number page — flight history (free tier limited).
AOPA Air Safety Institute search.
Mainstream press coverage. Recent events only.
Privacy-preserving news search.
External links open in a new tab. We don't ingest their content; we deep-link search queries.
Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type. Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- arXiv 2025 · arXiv preprint
Visual Heading Prediction for Autonomous Aerial Vehicles
The integration of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) is increasingly central to the development of intelligent autonomous systems for applications such as search and …
- arXiv 2025 · arXiv preprint
FalconWing: An Ultra-Light Indoor Fixed-Wing UAV Platform for Vision-Based Autonomy
We introduce FalconWing, an ultra-light (150 g) indoor fixed-wing UAV platform for vision-based autonomy. Controlled indoor environment enables year-round repeatable UAV experiment but imposes strict …
- arXiv 2024 · arXiv preprint
Enhanced Equivalent Circuit Model for High Current Discharge of Lithium-Ion Batteries with Application to Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing Aircraft
Conventional battery equivalent circuit models (ECMs) have limited capability to predict performance at high discharge rates, where lithium depleted regions may develop and cause a sudden exponential …
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2024 · Conference paper
A Double Taboo? An Exploratory Study of Mental Health Perceptions amongst Black Aerospace Professionals
This exploratory study delves into the often-overlooked realm of mental health perceptions among Black aerospace professionals, shedding light on a double taboo within a historically stigmatized indus…
- Semantic Scholar 2023 · Article (AIAA SCITECH 2023 Forum)
The Impact of Multi-Stack Fuel Cell Configurations on Electrical Architecture for a Zero Emission Regional Aircraft
All-electric aircraft can eliminate greenhouse gas emissions during aircraft mission, but the low predicted energy storage density of batteries (=0.5 kWh/kg), and their life cycle, limits aircraft pay…
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2022 · Conference paper
Creating the Next Generation of Aviation Professionals: Creating Diversity in the Next Generation
Covid-19, mandatory retirement age, the 1500 Hour ATP rule and lack of future aviation professionals has lead to a global industry crisis.
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗