Event GAA18CA436

Factual narrative

The pilot of the weight shift control aircraft reported that, during a flight review, while practicing touch and go landings, the flight instructor and pilot were both on the flight controls to allow the pilot to mirror the instructor's movements. During the landing flare, the pilot felt the airspeed was too high, the aircraft touched down and veered to the left. The instructor and pilot both tried to bring the aircraft under control, but the aircraft began to "waddle" and came to rest on its right side. The instructor reported that, during the flight, he observed the pilot was tense and uncomfortable and, during the first landing, the airspeed was too low. He instructed him to increase the airspeed and to practice stabilized approaches. During the accident landing roll, the aircraft was not aligned with the center of the runway and heading to the left. The pilot corrected to the right, but then made a turn back to the left. The aircraft came to rest on its right side. The weight shift control aircraft sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the weight shift control aircraft that would have precluded normal operation. The automated weather observation station located on the airport reported that, about 13 minutes after the accident, the wind was from 20° at 8 knots. The weight shift control aircraft landed on runway 35. The pilot and flight instructor did not submit the NTSB Form 6120.1 Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident/Incident Report. The pilot of the weight-shift-control aircraft reported that, during a flight review, while practicing touch-and-go landings, the flight instructor and pilot were both on the flight controls to allow the pilot to mirror the instructor's movements. During the landing flare, the pilot felt the airspeed was too high, and the aircraft touched down and veered left. The instructor and pilot both tried to bring the aircraft under control, but the aircraft began to "waddle" and came to rest on its right side. The instructor reported that, during the flight, he observed the pilot was tense and uncomfortable and during the first landing, the airspeed was too low. He instructed him to increase the airspeed and to practice stabilized approaches. During the accident landing roll, the aircraft was not aligned with the center of the runway and heading left. The pilot corrected to the right but then turned back to the left. The aircraft came to rest on its right side. The weight-shift-control aircraft sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the weight-shift-control aircraft that would have precluded normal operation. The automated weather observation station located on the airport reported that, about 13 minutes after the accident, the wind was from 20° at 8 knots. The weight-shift-control aircraft landed on runway 35. 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-Pilot - C
• — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Crosswind-Effect on operation