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GAA18CA473

2018-08-04 · Greeley, Colorado, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport GXY

Current FAA registration · N56LK

Make / Model
VAN'S AIRCRAFT RV-6A
Year of manufacture
2001 · 17 years old at event
Engine
LYCOMING O-360-A1A (180 hp)
Seats / Engines
2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
20180504
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A72595

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack during approach, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that, during approach, he airplane encountered the usual amount of sink, he added power, but applied too much back stick. The airplane aerodynamically stalled, landed hard, and the airplane came to rest 1,500 ft down the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right 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 pilot reported that, during approach, the airplane encountered the usual amount of sink, so he added power but applied too much back stick. The airplane aerodynamically stalled, landed hard, and then came to rest 1,500 ft down the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing and fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. 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-Angle of attack-Capability exceeded - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2018_GAA18CA473.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (stall). All research papers