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MIA97LA200

1997-07-02 · CLEARWATER, Florida, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport CLW

Current FAA registration · N8083S

Make / Model
CESSNA 150F
Engine
CONT MOTOR E185 SERIES (205 hp)
Seats / Engines
2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19650724
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S AB0267

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

the student pilot's inadequate compensation for wind conditions during an attempted go-around, which resulted in an on-ground loss of control and subsequent collision with trees and a ditch. The crosswind, trees, and ditch were related factors.

Factual narrative

On July 2, 1997, at about 0835 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 150F, N8083S, registered to West Florida Air Inc., operating as a 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight, experienced an on-ground loss of directional control on landing rollout and crashed at the Clearwater Air Park, Clearwater, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The student pilot reported no injuries. The flight originated about 15 minutes before the accident. The student pilot stated he encountered some turbulence about 5 feet above the runway which caused the airplane to yaw to the left just before touchdown. The airplane touched down hard on the right main landing gear, and bounced. He decided to abort the landing and do a go-around. He applied full throttle, but the engine did not respond right away. The carburetor heat was not turned off. He raised the flaps to 10-degrees, the airplane airplane settled to the ground in a crab, yawed to the left, the left wing tip collided with trees, and the airplane went off the left side of the runway into a ditch. Review of weather information Obtained for Clearwater, Florida, for the time period of the accident revealed no recorded record of turbulence, downdrafts, gusts, or windshear. The student pilot stated he encountered some turbulence about 5 feet above the runway which caused the airplane to yaw to the left just before touchdown. The airplane touched down hard on the right main landing gear and bounced. The pilot decided to abort the landing and go around. He applied full throttle, but the engine did not respond immediately. The carburetor heat was not turned off. During the go-around, the pilot raised the flaps to 10-degrees, and the airplane settled to the ground in a crab. Subsdequently, it yawed to the left, the left wing tip collided with trees, and the airplane went off the left side of the runway into a ditch. Review of weather information for the time of the accident revealed no record of 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_MIA97LA200.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (loss of control, go-around, turbulence). All research papers