NTSB CAROL · Event
Event WPR20CA284
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot’s delayed decision to initiate a go-around while landing in an unimproved area which resulted in a collision with debris.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that he was conducting cargo and crew shuttle operations in support of firefighting operations. During the approach to a remote landing site that throughout the day had been continuously provided with dust abatement, there was significant dust and small sage type vegetation debris in the air that was kicked up from the helicopter’s rotor wash. The pilot subsequently performed a go-around. During a post-flight inspection, substantial damage to the tail rotor was discovered. 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).
- — Personnel issues-Psychological-Attention/monitoring-Monitoring environment-Pilot
- — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Debris/dirt/foreign object-Effect on equipment
- — Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Delayed action-Pilot
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2020_WPR20CA284.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.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2015 · Conference paper
International Air Transport Association Vision 2050 Report Assessment
The International Air Transport Associations report Vision 2050 report addresses how the aviation industry members participating in the Vision 2050 will work towards meeting combined established goals…
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2002 · Journal article (JAAER)
A Fanciful Look at Air Carrier Operations in the Year 2050
Captain Lance Boyle smiled as he felt the smooth rippling thunk of the landing gear tires meeting the runway. Now that was how aircraft should land, not this vertical takeoff and landing nonsense empl…
- 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 …
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