NTSB CAROL · Event
Event WPR23LA052
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot’s flight into a valley with rising terrain that the airplane was incapable of out-climbing.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that, he mistakenly entered the wrong valley with rising terrain, which the airplane could not out-climb. When the pilot determined that he would not out-climb the terrain or safely reverse course, he landed the airplane on the valley floor, resulting in substantial damage to the wings and fuselage. The 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-Psychological-Attention/monitoring-Monitoring environment-Pilot
- — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Altitude-Not attained/maintained
- — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Terrain-Mountainous/hilly terrain-Effect on operation
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2022_WPR23LA052.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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