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WPR11LA195

2011-04-12 · Corona, California, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport AJO

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s loss of airplane control during the landing flare.

Factual narrative

On April 12, 2011, at 0853 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 150L, N11630, sustained substantial damage following a loss of aircraft control and impact with a hangar door at Corona Municipal Airport (AJO), Corona, California. The private pilot received minor injuries and his passenger received serious injuries. Fly Corona was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal local flight. A flight plan had not been filed. The pilot reported that he was practicing a touch-and-go landing and was high, so he “pulled up on the controls.” He realized the airplane was about to stall and added power. The airplane turned left about 45 degrees, bounced once in the adjacent grass, and crossed a taxiway. The airplane subsequently impacted a hangar. The airplane’s engine section back to the firewall went through the closed hangar door. Both wings and the cabin area of the fuselage were badly bent and wrinkled. Postaccident examination of the engine, airframe, and flight controls was performed by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector. No deficiencies were noted that would have precluded normal airplane operation. The flaps were in the full down position at the time of the accident. The pilot stated that he was practicing a touch-and-go landing and that he pulled up the controls during the landing flare because the airplane was high. He then realized that the airplane was about to stall and added power. The airplane turned left about 45 degrees, bounced once in the adjacent grass, and crossed a taxiway. The airplane subsequently impacted a hangar and the airplane’s engine section to the firewall went through the closed hangar door. Both wings and the cabin area of the fuselage were badly bent and wrinkled. Postaccident examination of the engine, airframe, and flight controls revealed no deficiencies that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

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

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2011_WPR11LA195.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 (icing, stall). All research papers