NTSB CAROL · Event
Event WPR12CA352
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot’s failure to maintain directional control of the airplane during the landing roll in gusting wind conditions.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that after touching down the airplane tracked the centerline of the runway but eventually began to track to the right. After correcting left and back to the centerline the airplane tracked straight. Subsequently, a wind gust from the right caused the right wing to lift, which resulted in the airplane tracking to the left and eventually exiting the left side of the runway. With a fence now directly in his path and an impending collision imminent, the pilot initiated a go-around by applying full power and retracting the flaps from 40 degrees to 10 degrees. The pilot added that even though the airplane was now airborne, he was unable to climb over the fence. The airplane impacted the top of the fence with its main landing gear and tail wheel before coming to rest wedged between a rock pile and the fence. The pilot reported no mechanical anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot reported that after touching down the airplane tracked the centerline of the runway but eventually began to veer to the right. After correcting back to the centerline, a wind gust from the right caused the right wing to lift, which resulted in the airplane tracking to the left and eventually exiting the left side of the runway. With a fence now directly in the path and a collision imminent, the pilot initiated a go-around by applying full power and retracting the flaps from 40 degrees to 10 degrees. The pilot added that even though the airplane was airborne, he was unable to climb over the fence. The airplane impacted the top of the fence with its main landing gear and tailwheel before coming to rest wedged between a rock pile and the fence; it sustained substantial damage to the wings, fuselage, and horizontal stabilizer. The pilot reported no mechanical anomalies with the airplane 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 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-Pilot - C
- C Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Gusts-Response/compensation - C
- — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Fence/fence post-Contributed to outcome
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2012_WPR12CA352.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…
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗