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GAA20CA056

2019-11-03 · Monument Valley, Utah, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport UT25

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during landing after a wing struck vegetation, which resulted in a runway excursion and subsequent ground-loop.

Factual narrative

The pilot of the tailwheel-equipped biplane reported that, while conducting a 3-point landing, the lower right wing struck vegetation along the edge of the runway. The biplane veered to the right off the runway. She decided to abort the landing and added power to go around, but the biplane ground looped to the left and both lower wings struck the ground. The airplane sustained substantial damage to fuselage and both lower wings. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot reported that, while conducting a three-point landing, the biplane's lower right wing struck vegetation along the edge of the runway. The biplane then veered right off the runway. She decided to abort the landing and added power to go around, but the biplane ground looped to the left, and both lower wings struck the ground. The biplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and both lower wings. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the biplane 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-Lateral/bank control-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Tree(s)-Effect on operation - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2019_GAA20CA056.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Related research

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