Event GAA18CA549

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that, during landing the tailwheel-equipped airplane bounced. The airplane then bounced two additional times and veered left of the centerline, and he applied "stick back" to pin the tail down. He then applied full throttle to go around, but did not relieve the back pressure on the stick. Subsequently, the airplane pitched up in a "very high" angle of attack, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and spin, and the airplane impacted the ground. 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. The pilot reported that, during landing, the tailwheel-equipped airplane bounced. The airplane then bounced again twice and veered left of the centerline, and he applied "stick back" to pin the tail down. He then applied full throttle to go around but did not relieve the back pressure on the stick. Subsequently, the airplane pitched up in a "very high" angle of attack, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and spin and subsequent impact with the ground. 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. 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-Angle of attack-Capability exceeded - C
• C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C