WPR19LA094
2019-02-15 · Montague, California, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport 1O5
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot’s failure to maintain directional control while landing on a wet/icy runway.
Factual narrative
On February 15, 2019, at 0900 Pacific standard time, a Cessna 402, N5849C, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Montague, California. The pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 cargo flight. According to the pilot, while on final approach to runway 33 at Montague Airport (1O5), he extended full flaps and slowed the airplane to 85-90 knots. He applied the airplane brakes and noticed minor braking action with the left brake and no braking action with the right brake. The pilot retracted the flaps and applied full power to perform a go-around; however, he recognized there was not enough runway and/or airspeed to regain flight. The pilot then reduced the power to idle and applied heavy braking while attempting to maintain directional control. The airplane departed the end of the runway off the left side and came to rest about 100-150 yards into a dirt overrun area. The nosewheel collapsed during the runway excursion and the forward fuselage section of the airplane was substantially damaged. The operator reported that the temperature was approximately 33°F at the time of the accident, and the runway surface was wet from rain that fell the night before. He stated the touchdown area was likely icy due to overnight sub-freezing temperatures. The operator additionally reported there were no mechanical anomalies with the airplane. While on final approach to the runway, the pilot extended full flaps and slowed the airplane to 85-90 knots. He applied the airplane brakes and noticed minor braking action with the left brake and no braking action with the right brake. The pilot retracted the flaps and applied full power to perform a go-around; however, he recognized there was not enough runway and/or airspeed to regain flight. The pilot then reduced the power to idle and applied heavy braking while attempting to maintain directional control. The airplane departed the end of the runway off the left side and came to rest about 100-150 yards into a dirt overrun area, substantially damaging the forward fuselage section. The runway was likely icy at the time of the landing due to rain the night before and sub-freezing temperatures overnight. The icy conditions would have resulted in a decreased braking performance and contributed to the runway excursion. Additionally, the operator reported no mechanical anomalies with the airplane. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12
NTSB Findings
FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.
- — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained
- — Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot
- — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Runway/land/takeoff/taxi surface-Wet surface-Contributed to outcome
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2019_WPR19LA094.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (runway excursion, go-around). All research papers
- SKYbrary (Eurocontrol) 2024 · SKYbrary article Runway Excursion — SKYbrary Knowledge Base
SKYbrary runway excursion review — RE-OE (overruns) + RE-LO (lateral). Risk drivers: long landing, high approach speed, contaminated surface, tailwind, mis-set autobrakes.
- 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.