NTSB CAROL · Event
Event WPR21LA317
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The student pilot’s improper landing flare.
Factual narrative
The solo student pilot reported that, shortly after takeoff, about 250 ft above ground level (agl) she discovered that the cockpit canopy was unlocked. She notified the tower controller of the situation and requested to land. While on final approach the airplane was high, so she reduced power to glide to the runway. She attempted to level off on the glide path however the airplane continued to descend and impacted the runway in a nose down attitude. The lower fuselage and right wing were substantially damaged. The operator 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-Pilot
- — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Landing flare-Not attained/maintained
- — Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Decision making/judgment-Pilot
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2021_WPR21LA317.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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