NTSB CAROL · Event
Event MIA02LA130
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot's failure to maintain directional control of the airplane during an aborted landing that resulted in a ground swerve and the airplane exiting the runway and collided with a fence, incurring damage.
Factual narrative
On July 6, 2002, about 2250, central daylight time, a Beech B50, N550G, registered to and operated by a private individual, as a Title 14 CFR part 91 personal flight, crashed while landing at Gragg-Wade Field, Clanton, Alabama. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The private-rated pilot and one pilot-rated passenger received no injuries, and the airplane incurred substantial damage. The flight originated in Pell City, Alabama, the same day, about 2130. The pilot stated that as they approached to land, the approach was good until the very last "part", and he did not like his alignment with the landing runway, so he attempted a go-around fairly close to the ground. He said that as he pushed the throttles forward to obtain full power, the airplane immediately yawed to the left and the nose and right wing pitched up. He said that the left engine did not produce power and that he applied full right rudder control input, "pulled" the power, and pushed the nose over to counteract the yaw, but the airplane touched down on the runway, having yawed to the left, and departed the runway to the left into the grass and impacted a fence incurring damage. The passenger stated that the pilot was performing a touch-and-go landing, and that the landing flare/touchdown was uneventful. He said that during the takeoff roll the aircraft began to veer to the left, and the pilot appeared to be applying corrective rudder input trying to maintain control, but was unsuccessful. He said the pilot even asked him if he had his feet on the rudder, and he replied no, stating that he had his feet flat on the floor. The aircraft exited the runway to the left into the grass, and collided with steel beams which sheared off the landing gear, and damaged a wing as well as the horizontal stabilizer. The pilot stated that he did not like his alignment with the landing runway, so he attempted a go-around fairly close to the ground. He said that he pushed the throttles forward to obtain full power and the airplane immediately yawed to the left and the nose and right wing pitched up. He said that the left engine did not produce power and that he applied full right rudder control input, "pulled" the power, and pushed the nose over to counteract the yaw, but the airplane touched down on the runway, having yawed to the left, and departed the runway to the left into the grass and impacted a fence, incurring damage. The passenger stated that the pilot was performing a touch-and-go landing, and that the landing flare/touchdown was uneventful. He said that during the takeoff roll the aircraft began to veer to the left, and the pilot appeared to be applying corrective rudder input trying to maintain control, but was unsuccessful. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2002_MIA02LA130.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
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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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