NTSB CAROL · Event
Event GAA17CA382
Registry · N2774D
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
CESSNA 170B
Year of manufacture
1952 · 65 years old at event
Engine
CONT MOTOR C145 SERIES (145 hp)
Seats / Engines
4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19551111
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A2C365
Registrant of record
EASTMAN GREGORY L
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot receiving instruction’s failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll and the flight instructor’s delayed remedial action, which resulted in a ground loop.
Factual narrative
The flight instructor in the tailwheel-equipped airplane reported that the pilot flying was receiving instruction for a tailwheel endorsement. He added that, during the 7th landing of the day, the pilot extended the downwind to allow for traffic that landed ahead of them. He further added that, during the wheel landing touchdown, as the tail was settling to the ground, a wind gust "turned the airplane's tail," which resulted in a ground loop on the runway. The left wing, engine mounts, and windscreen sustained substantial damage. The flight instructor and pilot receiving instruction reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. An automated weather observation station, at the accident airport, recorded wind from 240° at 6 knots. The flight instructor reported that the landing was on runway 22. The flight instructor in the tailwheel-equipped airplane reported that the pilot flying was receiving instruction for a tailwheel endorsement. He added that, during the seventh landing of the day, the pilot extended the downwind to allow for traffic that landed ahead of them. He further added that, during the wheel landing touchdown, as the tail was settling to the ground, a wind gust "turned the airplane's tail," which resulted in a ground loop on the runway. The left wing, engine mounts, and windscreen sustained substantial damage. The flight instructor and pilot receiving instruction reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. An automated weather observation station at the accident airport recorded wind from 240° at 6 knots. The flight instructor reported that the landing was on runway 22. 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 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-Student/instructed pilot - C
- C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Instructor/check pilot - C
- C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Delayed action-Instructor/check pilot - C
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2017_GAA17CA382.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.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Abstract
Wetting Angle and Surface Tension of Germanium Melts on Different Substrate Materials
The sessile drop technique has been used to measure the wetting angle and the surface tension of molten germanium (Ge) on various substrate materials.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Abstract
Determination of the Wetting Angle of Germanium and Germanium-Silicon Melts on Different Substrate Materials
During Bridgman growth of semiconductors detachment of the crystal and the melt meniscus has occasionally been observed, mainly under microgravity (microg) conditions.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Abstract
Contact Angles and Surface Tension of Germanium-Silicon Melts
Precise knowledge of material parameters is more and more important for improving crystal growth processes. Two important parameters are the contact (wetting) angle and the surface tension, determinin…
- arXiv 2019 · arXiv preprint
Heat and water vapor transfer in the wake of a falling ice sphere and its implication for secondary ice formation in clouds
We perform direct numerical simulations of the settling of an ice sphere in an ambient fluid accounting for heat and mass transfer with the aim of studying in a meteorological context the case of fall…
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗