- Date
- July 24, 2014, 17:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- Lafollette, TN
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N8159ZCirrus Design SR22
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR go-around: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 2, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- Cirrus Aircraft Company, FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20140724012789A
- Case key
- 89735
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during a go-around in gusty crosswind conditions.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
After an uneventful cross-country flight, about 2 miles from his destination airport, the pilot noted a "significant crosswind component with gusty/windshear like conditions." He then established the airplane in a slip maneuver and continued his approach to land. While over the runway, after realizing he had passed his intended point of landing, the pilot applied full throttle, added right rudder and pitched the airplane to a climb attitude to initiate a go-around. The airplane was then struck by a "significant wind gust" and it veered to the left towards a tree line. The left wing made contact with a tree and then impacted the ground before coming to rest between two trees. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed substantial damage to both wings and the empennage. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or anomalies with the airplane that could have precluded normal operation. A witness' recount of the accident corroborated the pilot's statement. The winds at the time of the accident were gusting from the west.
Factual narrative
After an uneventful cross-country flight, about 2 miles from his destination airport, the pilot noted a "significant crosswind component with gusty/windshear like conditions." He then established the airplane in a slip maneuver and continued his approach to land. While over the runway, after realizing he had passed his intended point of landing, the pilot applied full throttle, added right rudder and pitched the airplane to a climb attitude to initiate a go-around. The airplane was then struck by a "significant wind gust" and it veered to the left towards a tree line. The left wing made contact with a tree and then impacted the ground before coming to rest between two trees. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed substantial damage to both wings and the empennage. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or anomalies with the airplane that could have precluded normal operation. A witness' recount of the accident corroborated the pilot's statement. The winds at the time of the accident were gusting from the west.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8159Z
- Reported as
- Cirrus Design SR22
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 0743
- Built
- 2003
- Airframe hours
- 1,427
- Engine
- Cont Motor IO-550 SERIES, 310 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 1, 2013 · 75 hours before
- Departed
- DWU · Ashland, KY
- Destination
- TN44 · Lafollette, TN
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- TN44 · Deerfield Resort, runway 21, 3,120 × 50 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Auto-pilot, Airframe parachute, Stall warning system, Onboard weather, Handheld GPS, Electronic primary flight display, Electronic multifunction display, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Data recorder
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 38
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- September 23, 2013
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 623 total · 452.5 in this make and model · 567.2 as pilot in command · 32.4 in the last 90 days · 9.8 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,300 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.01 inHg
- Observed at
- 1A6, 21 nm away
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 13, 2014, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.7 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.