NTSB CAROL · Event
Event SEA05CA116
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot's delay in executing a go-around which resulted in his failure to obtain altitude/clearance with trees.
Factual narrative
On June 13, 2005, about 1130 mountain daylight time, a Taylorcraft BC12-D airplane, N96156, impacted trees during a go-around at Johnson Creek Airport near Yellow Pine, Idaho. The private pilot and his passenger were not injured, and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The airplane was registered to and operated by the pilot. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. The airplane departed from Big Creek Airport, Big Creek, Idaho, about 1100 with an intended destination of Johnson Creek. In a telephone interview and a written statement, the pilot reported that he made an approach to runway 17. He was "slightly high" on final approach, slipped the airplane, and his airspeed increased by "a few miles an hour." When the airplane was 3 to 5 feet above the ground, at an airspeed of 50 miles per hour, with 300 feet of runway remaining, the pilot executed a go around. After completing 90 degrees of left turn, the airplane impacted trees and descended to the ground. Both wings and the fuselage sustained structural damage. The pilot reported that he made an approach to runway 17. He was "slightly high" on final approach, slipped the airplane, and his airspeed increased by "a few miles an hour." When the airplane was 3 to 5 feet above the ground, at an airspeed of 50 miles per hour, with 300 feet of runway remaining, the pilot executed a go around. After completing 90 degrees of left turn, the airplane impacted trees and descended to the ground. Both wings and the fuselage sustained structural damage. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2005_SEA05CA116.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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