Event GAA20CA023

Factual narrative

The solo student pilot reported that, during the traffic pattern to land, the flaps would not lower and he had to move the flap lever up and down several times to troubleshoot. On base, he realized that he was faster than normal. On final, he extended the flaps to 30°, but felt he was too high and fast. He reduced power to correct and over the threshold, a crosswind drifted the airplane to the left. He reduced power to idle and pushed the nose down "too quickly." The airplane porpoised and he attempted to pitch the nose up to decrease airspeed. He was then worried that the airplane would aerodynamically stall, so he pitched the nose down. The airplane landed hard in the grass left of the runway, the nose dug into the ground, and the airplane came to rest inverted. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing. The student 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 6 minutes after the accident, the wind was from 200° at 11 knots. The student pilot was landing the airplane on runway 15. The student pilot reported that he should have added full power and performed a go around. He added that he felt pressured to land the airplane to "get out of everyone's way." The solo student pilot reported that, while in the traffic pattern to land, the flaps would not lower, and he had to move the flap lever up and down several times to troubleshoot. Once on the base leg, he realized that the airplane was faster than normal. On final, he extended the flaps to 30° but felt the airplane was too high and fast. He reduced power to correct, and over the threshold, the airplane encountered a crosswind which pushed the airplane to the left of the runway centerline. He reduced power to idle and pushed the nose down "too quickly." The nose landing gear hit the runway first, the airplane porpoised, and he attempted to pitch the nose up to decrease airspeed. He was then worried that the airplane would aerodynamically stall "too high in the air," so he pitched the nose down. The airplane landed hard in the grass left of the runway, the nose dug into the ground, and the airplane came to rest inverted. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing. The student reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation and that he should have added full power and performed a go-around. He added that he felt pressured to land the airplane to "get out of everyone's way." 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
• C Environmental issues-Physical environment-Runway/land/takeoff/taxi surface-Soft surface-Effect on operation - C
• C Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Crosswind-Effect on operation - C
• F Personnel issues-Psychological-Personality/attitude-Motivation/respond to pressure-Student/instructed pilot - F