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Atlas / NTSB / WPR11CA312

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event WPR11CA312

2011-07-06 Mesa, Arizona, United States Airport · KFFZ None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during the go around.

Factual narrative

A student pilot was conducting touch and go pattern operations during her second supervised solo. The pilot said that on the second touch and go she touched down on the runway to the right of centerline after a normal approach. The pilot then added full power, began retracting the flaps, and tapped the left rudder to correct the airplane back to centerline. Suddenly the airplane swerved to the left and the pilot added right rudder pedal but the airplane did not respond. The pilot then added brakes in an attempt to stop but the airplane continued to veer off the runway to the left. The airplane subsequently hit a lip on the taxiway and nosed over, coming to rest inverted. An FAA inspector examined the airplane following the accident and the nose gear steering linkages and brakes appeared normal. According to the student pilot, she was conducting touch-and-go pattern operations during her second supervised solo. During the second touch-and-go, she touched down on the runway to the right of centerline after a normal approach. She then added full power, began retracting the flaps, and tapped the left rudder to correct the airplane back to centerline. Suddenly, the airplane swerved to the left and the pilot added right rudder pedal but the airplane did not respond. The pilot then added brakes in an attempt to stop the airplane but it continued to veer off the runway to the left. The airplane subsequently impacted a raised portion of the taxiway and nosed over, coming to rest inverted. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed the nose gear steering linkages and brakes appeared normal. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Student pilot - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2011_WPR11CA312.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.