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GAA19CA580

2019-09-23 · Plant City, Florida, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport PCM

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The student pilot's failure to maintain directional control during the aborted landing, which resulted in a runway excursion and impact with a ditch.

Factual narrative

***This report was modified on January 9, 2020. Please see the docket for this accident to view the original report.*** The student pilot reported that during a solo flight in the pattern, the airplane encountered a "moderate wind," from the left during landing. The pilot corrected with right rudder application and the airplane touched down on the right side of the runway centerline. The student pilot retracted the flaps to perform a touch and go, and increased engine power to abort the landing. When the pilot increased the engine power, the airplane veered to the left and exited the runway. The airplane impacted a drainage culvert where it came to rest. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing spar. The airport's METAR reported that about the time of the accident, the wind was from 10° at 5 knots. The pilot landed the airplane on runway 10. The student pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The student pilot reported that, during a solo flight in the pattern, the airplane encountered a "moderate wind" from the left during landing. The pilot corrected with right rudder application, and the airplane touched down on the right side of the runway centerline. The student retracted the flaps to perform a touch-and-go landing and increased engine power. Subsequently, the airplane veered left and exited the runway. The airplane then impacted a ditch and came to rest. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing spar. The student 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

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Environmental issues-Physical environment-Terrain-Sloped/uneven terrain-Effect on operation - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2019_GAA19CA580.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (runway excursion). All research papers