NTSB CAROL · Event
Event MIA97LA150
Registry · N4141M
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
MILLER JAMES W MILLER SPECIAL JM-2
Engine
CONT MOTOR 0-200 SERIES (100 hp)
Seats / Engines
1 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19870909
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A4E583
Registrant of record
ACME AEROSPORTS INC
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
the pilot's failure to maintain directional control during a crosswind landing, which resulted in an inadvertent ground swerve and collision with bushes and terrain.
Factual narrative
On April 27, 1997, about 1010 eastern standard time, a Piper PA-12, N4141M, registered to a private owner, operating as a 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight, crashed during landing at Ocean Reef Club, a private airport, Key Largo, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The airplane was substantially damaged. The private pilot and pilot-rated passenger reported no injuries. The flight originated from Key Largo, Florida, about 10 minutes before the accident. The pilot stated the airplane ballooned during the flare (round out), he recovered with power and the airplane touched down on the runway. The airplane turned sharply to the right, the left wing came up, the airplane continued to turn to the right, and collided with bushes and palm trees. The pilot-rated passenger confirmed the pilot's statements. Review of the weather at the time of the accident revealed no record of turbulence, downdrafts, gusts, or windshear. The pilot stated he was landing with a crosswind, and the airplane veered to the right on landing rollout and collided with bushes and trees. Review of the weather at the time of the accident revealed no recorded turbulence, downdrafts, gusts, or windshear. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1997_MIA97LA150.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 (turbulence). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- arXiv 2026 · arXiv preprint
Direct Numerical Simulations of Ice-Ocean Boundary Turbulence
Turbulent heat and freshwater transport at ice-ocean interfaces controls glacier and iceberg melt rates, yet the underlying physics remains poorly constrained.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2025 · Journal article (JAAER)
Political Turbulence and Aviation Safety: A Cross-National Analysis of Political Stability's Effects on Aviation Accidents
To what extent does political stability affect aviation safety? This research aims to link domestic political conditions and public safety through the consideration of aviation accident frequency.
- arXiv 2025 · arXiv preprint
Explainable LiDAR 3D Point Cloud Segmentation and Clustering for Detecting Airplane-Generated Wind Turbulence
Wake vortices - strong, coherent air turbulences created by aircraft - pose a significant risk to aviation safety and therefore require accurate and reliable detection methods.
- arXiv 2024 · arXiv preprint
Does small-scale turbulence matter for ice growth in mixed-phase clouds?
Representing the glaciation of mixed-phase clouds in terms of the Wegener-Bergeron-Findeisen process is a challenge for many weather and climate models, which tend to overestimate this process because…
- arXiv 2023 · arXiv preprint
Effects of electrostatic interaction on clustering and collision of bidispersed inertial particles in homogeneous and isotropic turbulence
In sandstorms and thunderclouds, turbulence-induced collisions between solid particles and ice crystals lead to inevitable triboelectrification.
- SKYbrary (Eurocontrol) 2023 · SKYbrary article
Wake Vortex Turbulence — SKYbrary Knowledge Base
SKYbrary wake vortex turbulence comprehensive article — generation mechanics, dissipation factors, separation standards (ICAO LIGHT/MEDIUM/HEAVY/SUPER + recategorisation RECAT-EU).
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗