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Atlas / NTSB / WPR21LA177

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event WPR21LA177

2021-04-25 Sedona, Arizona, United States Airport · SEZ Minor 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s failure to maintain directional control during landing with a crosswind, which resulted in a collision with a fuel truck and a parked airplane.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that, during landing he input 10o of flaps and placed the airplane in a slight/crab with aileron input to compensate for the crosswind. Just before touchdown, the right wing lifted, and the airplane landed hard with a side load on the left main landing gear. The airplane veered to the left and traveled into a dirt area between the runway and taxiway. The pilot applied full throttle to abort the landing however the airplane would not climb. The airplane sustained substantial damage after it struck a parked airplane and fuel truck; the left wing separated, and the airplane came to rest inverted. 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).

  • Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot
  • Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained
  • Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Ground vehicle-Contributed to outcome
  • Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Aircraft-Contributed to outcome
  • Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Crosswind-Effect on operation

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2021_WPR21LA177.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.