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GAA20CA070

2019-11-11 · Kalispell, Montana, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport S27

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during landing, which resulted in a runway excursion and the left main landing gear collapsing.

Factual narrative

The pilot of the tailwheel equipped airplane reported that, after a bounced landing, he maintained directional control and 3-point landed the airplane back on to the runway. Shortly after, the airplane gradually veered left but he overcorrected, and the airplane veered right. He corrected with left rudder control and was able to maintain runway centerline but as the airplane slowed, the airplane veered left again. He corrected with right rudder control and right brake, but the airplane continued left, exited the runway to the left, the left landing gear collapsed, and the airplane impacted terrain. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing. The pilot was unsure if there was a mechanical anomaly with the tailwheel or brakes. A post-accident examination by the pilot's mechanic revealed that there were no mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot reported that, after a bounced landing, he maintained directional control and conducted a three-point landing back onto the runway. Shortly after, the airplane gradually veered left, but he overcorrected, and the airplane veered right. He corrected with left rudder control and was able to maintain the runway centerline, but as the airplane slowed, it veered left again. He corrected with right rudder and right brake, but the airplane continued left, exited the runway and skidded sideways, and the left landing gear collapsed. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing. Postaccident examination by the pilot's mechanic revealed that there were no 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 Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2019_GAA20CA070.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