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WPR21LA067

2020-12-08 · Dillon, Montana, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport DLN

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The student pilot’s exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle attack during an attempted go-around, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall.

Factual narrative

The solo student pilot reported that, while on final approach to land, he decided to initiate a go-around. He applied full power and pitched up the airplane, which then stalled and turned left about 90°. The pilot was able to recover from the stall, but the airplane was close to the ground. Subsequently he landed the airplane in an open field. The student saw an irrigation ditch ahead and attempted to become airborne again, but the airplane did not gain sufficient lift and subsequently impacted the ditch. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The student reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. 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-Angle of attack-Not attained/maintained
  • — Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Use of equip/system-Student/instructed pilot
  • — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Terrain-Sloped/uneven terrain-Contributed to outcome

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2020_WPR21LA067.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (stall, go-around). All research papers