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Atlas / NTSB / GAA19CA556

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event GAA19CA556

2019-09-17 Naples, Florida, United States Airport · APF None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The student pilot's improper landing flare, which resulted in a porpoised landing and a nose landing gear collapse.

Factual narrative

The student pilot reported that, during approach to land, the airplane suddenly sank. She added power, but the airplane bounced. She added more power, but the airplane bounced again and the nose landing gear collapsed. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing. The chief executive officer for the flight school 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 37 minutes before the accident, the wind was from 030° at 4 knots. The same automated station reported that, about 23 minutes after the accident, the wind was from 020° at 6 knots. The student pilot landed the airplane on runway 05. The student pilot reported that, while on approach to land, the airplane suddenly sank. She added power, but the airplane bounced. She added more power, but the airplane bounced again, and the nose landing gear collapsed. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing. The flight school's chief executive officer 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-Landing flare-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Student/instructed pilot - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2019_GAA19CA556.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.