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Atlas / NTSB / WPR21LA076

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event WPR21LA076

2021-01-02 Santa Monica, California, United States Airport · SMO None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N52NL

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

EXTRA FLUGZEUGBAU GMBH EA 300/L

Year of manufacture

2000 · 21 years old at event

Engine

LYCOMING AEIO-540 SER (260 hp)

Seats / Engines

2 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

20000420

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A687CC

Registrant of record

MARAUDER AVIATION LLC

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll, which resulted in a ground-loop.

Factual narrative

The pilot of a tailwheel equipped airplane reported that, during the landing roll, his foot “popped off” the rudder pedal and the airplane ground loop to the left. The left main landing collapsed, the left wing impacted the runway surface and came to rest on the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left aileron. The pilot 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

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or 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

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2021_WPR21LA076.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.