Skip to content

Atlas / NTSB / WPR20CA045

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event WPR20CA045

2019-12-16 Lancaster, California, United States Airport · WJF Minor 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The student pilot's failure to maintain directional control and his use of excessive braking while taxiing.

Factual narrative

The flight instructor and the student pilot who was on the controls, were taxiing for departure when the airplane started to veer to the right of the taxiway centerline. In an attempt to correct the directional movement, the student pilot applied the brakes quickly. The flight instructor reported that he could not intervene quick enough before the airplane nosed-over and came to rest inverted on the taxiway. The airplane sustained substantial damage the right wing and vertical stabilizer. The flight instructor reported no mechanical malfunctions or failures prior to the accident that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane. The flight instructor and the student pilot, who was on the controls, were taxiing for departure when the airplane started to veer right of the taxiway centerline. To correct the veer, the student quickly applied the brakes. The instructor reported that he could not intervene quickly enough before the airplane nosed over and came to rest inverted on the taxiway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing and vertical stabilizer. The instructor reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures 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 Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Student/instructed pilot - C
  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Use of equip/system-Student/instructed pilot - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft systems-Landing gear system-Brake-Incorrect use/operation - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Surface speed/braking-Not attained/maintained - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2019_WPR20CA045.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. 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 ↗