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Atlas / NTSB / WPR11CA338

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event WPR11CA338

2011-07-15 Adelanto, California, United States Airport · 0CL1 Serious 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N84AM

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

CUBCRAFTERS INC CC11-160

Year of manufacture

2023

Engine

CONT MOTOR OX-340 SERIES (180 hp)

Seats / Engines

2 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

20231122

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S AB7D8C

Registrant of record

JMAR AVIATION LLC

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's incorrect use of the flap control pitch control recovery which resulted in an aerodynamic stall.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that he was turning the glider from base to final at about 400 feet with full flaps and spoilers extended. On final about 100 feet above the ground, the pilot decided to change his flap setting from 20 degrees to 10 degrees as there was a cross wind. When he went to move the flap handle, the handle slipped from his hand and instantly changed the flaps to 10 degrees, which caused the glider to lose lift and nose down. The pilot then pulled back on the controls which caused the glider to stall and collide with the ground. The glider was substantially damaged and the pilot was seriously injured during the accident. The pilot reported no pre-impact mechanical malfunctions of failures with the airframe or the engine that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot reported that he turned from the base leg to final approach at about 400 feet with full flaps and spoilers extended. On final approach about 100 feet above the ground, he decided to change the flap setting from 20 degrees to 10 degrees as there was a crosswind. He said that as he tried to move the flap handle, the handle slipped from his hand and instantly changed the flaps to 10 degrees, which resulted in the glider losing lift and nosed down. He pulled back on the controls, but the glider stalled and collided with the ground resulting in substantial damage. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe or the engine that would have precluded normal operation. 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 Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
  • C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Incorrect action selection-Pilot - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft structures-Wing structure-Trailing edge flaps-Unintentional use/operation - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Pitch control-Incorrect use/operation - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2011_WPR11CA338.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Related research

What the literature says.

Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (stall). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.

Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗