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GAA17CA518

2017-09-02 · Afton, Wyoming, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport AFO

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s failure to maintain bank control during an attempted go-around.

Factual narrative

The pilot of the tailwheel-equipped airplane reported that, during landing, the airplane bounced, so he applied power for a go around. He added that the airplane "immediately banked left sharply". He attempted to recover by using rudder and aileron inputs, but the airplane impacted terrain. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. A review of recorded data from the automated weather observation station located on the airport reported that, about 5 minutes before the accident, the wind was calm. The airplane was landing on runway 34. The pilot of the tailwheel-equipped airplane reported that, during landing, the airplane bounced, so he applied power for a go-around. He added that the airplane "immediately banked left sharply." He attempted to recover by using rudder and aileron inputs, but the airplane impacted terrain. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. A review of recorded data from the automated weather observation station located on the airport revealed that, about 5 minutes before the accident, the wind was calm. The airplane was landing on runway 34. 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-Lateral/bank control-Not attained/maintained - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2017_GAA17CA518.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (go-around). All research papers