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Atlas / NTSB / GAA18CA583

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event GAA18CA583

2018-06-21 Llano, Texas, United States Airport · AQO None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N9496D

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

PIPER PA-18A 150

Year of manufacture

1958 · 60 years old at event

Engine

LYCOMING 0-320 SERIES (180 hp)

Seats / Engines

1 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

19581208

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S AD31C5

Registrant of record

CAVU CLEARING LLC

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's receiving instruction’s improper landing flare and his failure to maintain adequate airspeed and his exceedance of the airplane's critical angle of attack during landing, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall.

Factual narrative

The pilot receiving instruction in the tailwheel-equipped airplane reported that, during landing, the airplane touched downed abruptly. He added that he taxied to the edge of the runway and observed that the airplane was leaning to the left. The flight instructor reported that the pilot leveled off about 3 ft above the ground and allowed the airspeed to decrease. He added that he instructed the pilot to add power to "cushion the landing" and the pilot attempted to, but the airplane continued to decelerate until it aerodynamically stalled and landed hard on the left main landing gear. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The instructor reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot receiving instruction in the tailwheel-equipped airplane reported that, during landing, the airplane touched down abruptly. He added that he taxied to the edge of the runway and saw that the airplane was leaning left. The flight instructor reported that the pilot leveled off about 3 ft above the ground and allowed the airspeed to decrease. He added that he instructed the pilot to add power to "cushion the landing" and that the pilot attempted to do so, but the airplane continued to decelerate until it aerodynamically stalled and landed hard on the left main landing gear. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The instructor 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 Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Student/instructed pilot - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Angle of attack-Capability exceeded - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Landing flare-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Airspeed-Not attained/maintained - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2018_GAA18CA583.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 ↗