NTSB CAROL · Event
Event LAX96LA188
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
the pilot's inadequate compensation for crosswind conditions and failure to maintain directional control. The wind was a factor.
Factual narrative
On May 3, 1996, at 1705 hours mountain standard time, a Cessna 180, N4691B, ground looped and dragged a wing while landing on runway 14 at the Lake Havasu City, Arizona, airport. The airplane was substantially damaged and the certificated private pilot was not injured. The airplane was being operated by the pilot/owner as a personal flight. The flight originated in Santa Ana, California, at 1515 hours. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time. The pilot reported he encountered a crosswind during the landing roll. The crosswind lifted the right wing high enough to allow the left wing to drag on the ground. The airplane then ground looped and nosed over, damaging the vertical stabilizer. The pilot said the airport manger stated that the automatic weather reporting station (AWOS) recorded the winds from 230 degrees at 13 knots gusting to 23 knots at the time of the accident. The pilot reported he encountered a crosswind during the landing roll. The crosswind lifted the right wing high enough to allow the left wing to drag on the ground. The airplane then ground looped and nosed over, damaging the vertical stabilizer. The airport manager reported the automatic weather reporting station (AWOS) recorded the winds from 230 degrees at 13 knots gusting to 23 knots at the time of the accident. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1996_LAX96LA188.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. Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
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- arXiv 2024 · arXiv preprint
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- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2024 · Conference paper
Integrated Propulsion and Control of Rotorcraft
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- NASA NTRS 2023 · Presentation
Subsonic Single Aft Engine (SUSAN) Flight Deck Experiment: Throttle and Engine Display Concepts
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- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2023 · Conference paper
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