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Atlas / NTSB / GAA19CA261

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event GAA19CA261

2019-05-13 Belgrade, Montana, United States Airport · BZN None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N772DW

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

SIAI-MARCHETTI SM 1019

Year of manufacture

1976 · 43 years old at event

Engine

ALLISON 250 SERIES (300 hp)

Seats / Engines

2 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

20040709

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S AA70D5

Registrant of record

CCF VENTURES INC

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot receiving instruction's overapplication of rudder during the landing roll and his subsequent failure to maintain directional control, which resulted in a ground loop.

Factual narrative

The flight instructor in the tailwheel-equipped airplane reported that, while the pilot receiving instruction performed a wheel landing, the touchdown was smooth and normal. The pilot reduced the power to idle, the tailwheel lowered, and the airspeed decelerated to about 30 knots. The airplane turned slightly to the right and the pilot corrected with "slightly too much left rudder", followed by "too much right rudder", which led to a ground loop to the right. The instructor attempted to recover with heavy left rudder and decided to perform a go around. He attempted to add power, but was unable to advance the power lever, which he believes was being firmly held by the pilot. The left wing impacted the runway and airplane tipped onto its nose, The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing. The flight instructor 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 4 minutes before the accident, the wind was from 330° at 7 knots. The pilot landed the airplane on runway 12. The flight instructor in the tailwheel-equipped airplane reported that, while the pilot receiving instruction performed a wheel landing, the touchdown was smooth and normal. The pilot reduced the power to idle, the tailwheel lowered, and the airspeed decelerated to about 30 knots. He added that the airplane turned slightly right and that the pilot corrected with "slightly too much left rudder," followed by "too much right rudder," which led to a ground loop. The instructor attempted to recover with heavy left rudder and decided to perform a go-around. He attempted to add power, but he was unable to advance the power lever, which he believed the pilot was holding firmly. The left wing impacted the runway, and airplane nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing. 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 Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Student/instructed pilot - C
  • Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Incorrect action performance-Student/instructed pilot
  • Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Tailwind-Effect on operation

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2019_GAA19CA261.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 (go-around). 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 ↗