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Atlas / NTSB / GAA18CA395

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event GAA18CA395

2018-07-05 San Carlos, California, United States Airport · SQL None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N75SY

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

COSTRUZIONI AERONAUTICHE TECNA P2002 SIERRA

Year of manufacture

2008 · 10 years old at event

Engine

ROTAX 912ULS SERIES (100 hp)

Seats / Engines

2 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

20080406

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S AA1957

Registrant of record

ROBERTSON COLBY DAVID

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s failure to maintain a proper glidepath and crosswind correction during landing, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that, while landing in a crosswind, the approach was "too low" and he added power. The airplane then "rolled and veered" to the left. He added that marks on the terrain indicated that the left wing struck the ground and tracks showed that the airplane touched down on the pavement before the runway threshold. The airplane then exited the runway, the nose landing gear collapsed and the airplane came to rest nosed down. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the engine mount, left wing and fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The automated weather observation system located at the accident airport reported that, about the time of the accident, the wind was from 330° at 8 knots. The pilot landed on runway 30. The pilot reported that, while landing in a crosswind, the approach was "too low," and he added power. The airplane then "rolled and veered" left. He added that marks on the terrain indicated that the left wing struck the ground, and tracks showed that the airplane touched down on the pavement before the runway threshold. The airplane then exited the runway, the nose landing gear collapsed, and the airplane came to rest nose down. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the engine mount, left wing, and fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The automated weather observation system located at the airport reported that, about the time of the accident, the wind was from 330° at 8 knots. The pilot landed the airplane on runway 30. 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-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Descent/approach/glide path-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Crosswind correction-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Crosswind-Response/compensation - C
  • Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Crosswind-Effect on operation

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2018_GAA18CA395.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Related research

What the literature says.

Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (stall). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.

Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗