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Atlas / NTSB / WPR21LA217

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event WPR21LA217

2021-05-31 Carlsbad, California, United States Airport · CRQ None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The student pilot’s improper landing flare, which resulted in a bounced landing and subsequent loss of directional control.

Factual narrative

The solo student pilot reported that, during the approach for landing, she was slightly low and added power before touchdown. When the airplane touched down, it bounced, and she increased engine power. The airplane subsequently veered to the left. She then applied right rudder control, but the airplane exited the runway to the left and impacted runway signs. The engine mounts were substantially damaged. The student 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).

  • Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Student/instructed pilot
  • Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Decision making/judgment-Student/instructed pilot
  • Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Landing flare-Not attained/maintained
  • Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Sign/marker-Effect on operation

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2021_WPR21LA217.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. 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 ↗