GAA19CA162

Factual narrative

The solo student pilot reported that, during the landing roll of a touch and go landing, the airplane began to veer off the runway, so he added power for a go around. He called the tower controller to inform them of the go around and he observed the left landing gear strut was bent and the tire was "missing." He told the controller that he must have hit something and was instructed to fly by the tower. After the flyby, the tower controller confirmed damage to the left landing gear and cleared him to land. The student landed and, during the landing roll, the airplane skidded off the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left horizontal stabilizer and left elevator. The student pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The automated weather observation station located on the airport reported that, about 7 minutes before the accident, the wind was from 320° at 8 knots. The student pilot was landing the airplane on runway 21. Examination of security videos revealed that, during the first landing and go around, the airplane drifted to the left and the left main landing gear struck a runway sign. The solo student pilot reported that, during the landing roll of a touch-and-go landing, the airplane began to veer off the runway, so he added power for a go-around. During the go-around, he saw that the left main landing (MLG) gear strut was bent and that the tire was "missing." He told the tower controller that he must have hit something and was instructed to fly by the tower. After the flyby, the tower controller confirmed that the left MLG was damaged and cleared the student to land. During the landing roll, the airplane skidded off the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left horizontal stabilizer and left elevator. The student reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The airport's automated weather observation station reported that, about 7 minutes before the accident, the wind was from 320° at 8 knots. The student was landing the airplane on runway 21. Examination of security videos revealed that, during the go-around, the airplane drifted left and that the left MLG struck a runway sign. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

• C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Heading/course-Not attained/maintained - C
• C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Student/instructed pilot - C