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Atlas / NTSB / GAA19CA049

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event GAA19CA049

2018-11-04 ELYRIA, Ohio, United States Airport · LPR None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N21ZA

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

FLIGHT DESIGN GMBH CTLS

Year of manufacture

2011 · 7 years old at event

Engine

ROTAX 912ULS SERIES (100 hp)

Seats / Engines

2 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

20110817

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A1B969

Registrant of record

RAS AVIATION LLC

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed during landing in variable gusting crosswind conditions, which resulted in a hard landing and runway excursion.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that during landing, the airplane encountered a gusting crosswind from the right. The airplane was configured with 0° flaps, and his airspeed was about 55 knots when the airplane was 5ft AGL. He reported that the airplane's airspeed was too slow for the gusting right crosswind conditions, and the airplane landed hard on the runway. The right main landing gear wheel separated from the airplane during the landing, and the airplane exited the runway to the right. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right main landing gear attachment points and the cabin's monocoque structure. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The METAR at the airport reported that about the time of the accident, the wind was from 140° at 11 knots, and gusting to 19 knots. The pilot reported that, during landing, the airplane encountered a gusting crosswind from the right. The airplane was configured with 0° flaps, and the airspeed was about 55 knots, and the airplane was about 5 ft above ground level. The airplane's airspeed was too slow for the gusting right crosswind conditions, and the airplane landed hard on the runway. The right main landing gear wheel separated from the airplane during the landing, and the airplane exited the runway to the right. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right main landing gear attachment points and the cabin's monocoque structure. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The METAR at the airport reported that, about the time of the accident, the wind was from 140° at 11 knots, gusting to 19 knots. 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-Airspeed-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Variable wind-Effect on operation - C
  • C Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Gusts-Effect on operation - C
  • C Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Crosswind-Effect on operation - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2018_GAA19CA049.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 (runway excursion). 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 ↗