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Atlas / NTSB / WPR22LA135

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event WPR22LA135

2022-03-23 Torrance, California, United States Airport · TOA None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N863SL

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

AIRPLANE FACTORY (PTY) LTD SLING LSA

Year of manufacture

2019 · 3 years old at event

Engine

ROTAX 912 IS (100 hp)

Seats / Engines

2 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

20200324

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S ABDB97

Registrant of record

AVIATION FINANCIAL CORP

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The flight instructor’s loss of airplane control during an aborted landing due to a wind shift, which resulted in an impact with a runway sign.

Factual narrative

The flight instructor of the airplane reported that, during an instructional flight with a student flight instructor, he purposely “flared too much and a little too high.” The intent was for the student flight instructor to correct; however, he did not intervene. The flight instructor added full power to abort the landing when the airplane encountered a shift from a headwind to a right quartering tailwind and the airplane drifted to the right. While maneuvering the airplane to stay over the runway, the left aileron struck a runway sign. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left aileron. The flight instructor 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-Instructor/check pilot
  • Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Sign/marker-Effect on equipment
  • Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Sudden wind shift-Effect on operation

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2022_WPR22LA135.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.