NTSB CAROL · Event
Event LAX91LA402
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
THE PASSENGER/CERTIFIED FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR'S POOR JUDGEMENT BY INTERFERING WITH THE PIC AND HIS FAILURE TO EXECUTE A TIMELY GO-AROUND. CONTRIBUTING TO THIS ACCIDENT WAS THE CFI'S MISJUDGMENT OF ALTITUDE.
Factual narrative
WHEN THE FLT ARRIVED AT ITS DESTINATION AIRPORT, THE PASSENGER, A CFI, SUGGESTED TO THE PIC, A PRIVATE PILOT, THAT HE PRACTICE A SIMULATED ENGINE OUT APPROACH/LANDING. THE PIC THROTTLED BACK THE ENGINE UPON ENTERING THE LEFT DOWNWIND LEG. WHEN ON FINAL APPROACH WITH FULL FLAPS EXTENDED, THE PIC REALIZED THE ACFT WAS TOO HIGH AND BEGAN TO SLIP THE AIRPLANE. WHEN NEARING THE THRESHOLD THE ACFT WAS STILL TOO HIGH AND THE PAX (CFI) ASSUMED THE CONTROLS AND ENTERED A 360 DEGREE TURN. DURING THE TURN THE CFI REALIZED THE AIRPLANE WAS TOO LOW AND APPLIED POWER TO GO AROUND, BUT TO NO AVAIL. THE AIRPLANE STRUCK THE GROUND AND CARTWHEELED. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1991_LAX91LA402.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (go-around). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- NASA NTRS 2025 · Conference Paper
A Training Study to Improve Monitoring During A Go-Around
As part of an FAA program to improve go-around (GA) safety, we were asked to determine if we could improve the performance of the Pilot Monitoring (PM) during a GA maneuver.
- Flight Safety Foundation 2024 · FSF / AeroSafety World
Go-Around Safety Forum Findings
Foundation Go-Around Safety Forum technical findings — examines why pilots fail to execute go-arounds when criteria are met (stabilized approach gate not met, energy state out of envelope, traffic con…
- Semantic Scholar 2022 · Article (Journal of Safety Research)
Go-around accidents and general aviation safety.
INTRODUCTION Changes in General Aviation (GA) accident rates, specifically in the go-around phase, are examined by comparing the number of accidents, the proportion of fatal accidents, and the proport…
- Semantic Scholar 2021 · Article (Aerospace)
Classification and Analysis of Go-Arounds in Commercial Aviation Using ADS-B Data
Go-arounds are a necessary aspect of commercial aviation and are conducted after a landing attempt has been aborted. It is necessary to conduct go-arounds in the safest possible manner, as go-arounds …
- NASA NTRS 2021 · Accepted Manuscript (Version with final changes)
Go-Around Criteria Refinement for Transport Category Aircraft
Presently, airline pilots are trained to go around if, when lower than 500 ft above the ground, they are outside of a handful of parameters such as airspeed, position, and rate of descent.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Conference Paper
Validation of Proposed Go-Around Criteria Under Various Environmental Conditions
This paper evaluates the effects of environmental conditions on touchdown performance under varying approach states and validates proposed go-around criteria developed using data from a previously con…
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