NTSB WPR21LA246 — 2021-06-24 · Carson City, Nevada, United States

Current FAA registration · N8003K

Make / Model: AIRBORNE AUSTRALIA XT582
Year of manufacture: 2006 · 15 years old at event
Engine: ROTAX 582UL DCDI (65 hp)
Seats / Engines: 2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date: 20100126
ADS-B equipped: Yes — Mode-S AAE4A8

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N8003K AIRBORNE AUSTRALIA XT582 None

Probable cause & findings

The student pilot's failure to maintain directional control during landing in gusting wind, which resulted in a runway excursion and impact with terrain.

Factual narrative

The solo student pilot in the weight-shift-control aircraft reported that, during the landing, the aircraft encountered a gust of wind and veered left. The pilot applied full left brake during an attempted go-around, however the aircraft exited the runway and collided with a ditch. The left wing struck the ground and sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the aircraft 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-Directional control-Not attained/maintained
— Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Student/instructed pilot
— Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Gusts-Effect on operation

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2021_WPR21LA246.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 (runway excursion, go-around). All research papers