NTSB CAROL · Event
Event MIA94LA039
Registry · N58DG
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
VAN'S AIRCRAFT RV-8
Year of manufacture
2012
Engine
ECI IOX-360 (188 hp)
Seats / Engines
2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
20121015
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A773E1
Registrant of record
GARRISON DONALD L
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
THE PILOT MISJUDGED HIS ALTITUDE OVER GLASSY WATER DURING LANDING AND INADVERTENTLY TOUCHED DOWN IN A FLAT ATTITUDE.
Factual narrative
On December 17, 1993, about 1230 eastern standard time, a Grumman G-44A, N58DG, registered to David S. Garber, crashed while landing on Lake Griffin, Leesburg, Florida, while on a 14 CFR Part 91, personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed. The aircraft received substantial damage and the airline transport-rated pilot received minor injuries. The flight originated at Leesburg Municipal Airport, Leesburg, Florida, on December 17, 1993, at 1225. The pilot stated he was landing on Lake Griffin and planned to terminate the flight on the ramp behind his house. While in the landing flare he encountered glassy water and lost all depth perception. Before he could initiate a go-around the aircraft touched down inadvertently in a flat attitude and the aircraft immediately flipped tail over nose. The aircraft came to rest inverted in the water and remained afloat. THE PILOT STATED HE ENCOUNTERED GLASSY WATER AS HE INITIATED HIS LANDING FLARE. HE THEN LOST ALL DEPTH PERCEPTION AND BEFORE HE INITIATE A GO-AROUND THE AIRCRAFT INADVERTENTLY TOUCHED DOWN IN A FLAT ATTITUDE AND NOSED OVER. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1993_MIA94LA039.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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