NTSB CAROL · Event
Event GAA17CA336
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot’s decision to continue to attempt to take off despite the airplane’s inability to attain a positive climb rate, which resulted in little runway remaining, and his subsequent decision to turn off the runway, which resulted in a collision with a barn.
Factual narrative
The pilot in the airplane reported that he attempted to take off from his turf airstrip. He attempted to force the airplane into the air and after a brief ascent the airplane descended to the ground and touched down hard. The pilot continued to the previous sequence until he determined that he would not be able to clear the trees at the end of the runway. He made a left turn, and the airplane traveled through a bean field, a hay field, and hit a ditch and collided with a barn. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings.Per the National Transportation Safety Board Pilot Aircraft Accident Report, the pilot reported that the accident could have been prevented, if he had aborted the takeoff after the first bounce the accident never would have happened. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot reported that he attempted to take off in the airplane from his turf airstrip. He attempted to force the airplane into the air, and after a brief ascent, the airplane descended to the ground and touched down hard. The pilot continued the sequence of lifting off and then touching down again until he determined that he would not be able to clear the trees at the end of the runway. He made a left turn, and the airplane traveled through two fields, hit a ditch, and collided with a barn. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings. Per the National Transportation Safety Board Pilot Aircraft Accident Report, the pilot reported that the accident could have been prevented if he had aborted the takeoff after the first bounce. The 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-Pilot - C
- C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Climb rate-Not attained/maintained - C
- C Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Residence/building-Effect on operation - C
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2017_GAA17CA336.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.