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Atlas / NTSB / WPR20CA084

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event WPR20CA084

2020-01-25 Prescott, Arizona, United States Airport · PRC None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N31ER

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

CESSNA 150E

Year of manufacture

1964 · 56 years old at event

Engine

CONT MOTOR 0-200 SERIES (100 hp)

Seats / Engines

2 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

19641224

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A344EC

Registrant of record

EMBRY RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIV INC

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's improper approach and landing flare, which resulted in a stall and a subsequent hard, bounced landing.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that during the descent for a touch-and-go landing, the airplane was not descending and he noticed that he was high on the approach. The pilot trimmed the airplane for a more nose down attitude and extended the flaps to 40o. Throughout the descent, the pilot had a difficult time controlling the airplane as he experienced updrafts and a tailwind. After passing the touchdown point on the runway, the airplane stalled and landed hard on the runway, bouncing several times. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the engine mount assembly. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot reported that, during the descent for a touch-and-go landing, the airplane was not descending, and he noticed that the airplane was high on the approach. The pilot trimmed the airplane for a more nose-down attitude and extended the flaps to 40°. Throughout the descent, the pilot had a difficult time controlling the airplane as it encountered updrafts and a tailwind. After passing the touchdown point on the runway, the airplane stalled, landed hard, and bounced several times. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the engine mount assembly. The pilot 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 Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Landing flare-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Descent/approach/glide path-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Angle of attack-Not attained/maintained - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2020_WPR20CA084.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 ↗