Event GAA19CA546

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that, during a familiarization flight with a flight instructor in a recently purchased, retractable landing gear-equipped airplane, while demonstrating a soft field takeoff, the tower controller cleared him for takeoff "with no delay." He quickly taxied the airplane to the runway centerline, applied power, and pulled back on the yoke. He added that, in retrospect, the back pressure used was too abrupt. The airplane entered ground effect about 10 knots slower than normal and was unable to maintain flight in ground effect and he was struggling to maintain runway heading. The airplane touched down "abruptly several times." The airplane drifted to the left and he thought he had a positive rate of climb, so he retracted the landing gear. Additionally, he was "too aggressive" with control inputs and "caused a stall." The left wing struck the taxiway and the airplane came to rest on the ramp. The pilot reported that the instructor did not take the flight controls. The flight instructor did not provide a statement to the NTSB. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing. The pilot 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 5 minutes after the accident, the wind was from 090° at 13 knots. The pilot was departing on runway 04L. The pilot reported that, during a familiarization flight with a flight instructor in a recently purchased airplane and while demonstrating a soft-field takeoff, the tower controller cleared him for takeoff "with no delay." He quickly taxied the airplane to the runway centerline, applied power, and pulled back on the yoke. He added that, in retrospect, the back pressure he used was too abrupt. The airplane entered ground effect about 10 knots slower than normal and was unable to maintain flight in ground effect, and he was struggling to maintain the runway heading. The airplane then touched down "abruptly several times." The airplane drifted left, and the pilot thought there was a positive climb rate, so he retracted the landing gear. Additionally, he was "too aggressive" with control inputs and "caused a stall." The left wing struck the taxiway, and the airplane came to rest on the ramp. The pilot reported that the instructor did not take the flight controls. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing. 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-Pitch control-Not attained/maintained - C
• C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
• C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Angle of attack-Capability exceeded - C
• F Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Lack of action-Instructor/check pilot - F
• — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Crosswind-Effect on operation