- Date
- March 23, 2022, 10:45 local (17:45 UTC)
- Place
- Torrance, CA · On Airport
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N863SLAirplane Factory Sling LSA
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20220323004099A
- Case key
- 104847
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 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.
Findings · 4
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
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.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N863SL
- Reported as
- Airplane Factory Sling LSA
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 302
- Built
- 2019
- Airframe hours
- 2,872
- Engine
- Rotax 912IS, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Aviation Financial Corp
- Registered owner
- Aviation Financial Corp
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental light sport (Special)
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · March 17, 2022 · 31 hours before
- Departed
- KTOA · Torrance, CA
- Airport
- TOA · Zamperini Field Airport, runway 29L, 3,000 × 75 ft, concrete
- Equipment
- Electronic primary flight display, Stall warning system, ADS-B, Auto-pilot, Electronic multifunction display
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 26
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- December 7, 2021
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 1,850 total · 350 in this make and model · 1,750 as pilot in command · 120 in the last 90 days · 30 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Student pilot
- Age
- 36
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- February 25, 2022
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 233 total · 232 in this make and model · 136.8 as pilot in command · 43.6 in the last 90 days · 10.6 in the last 30 days · 1.5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.14 inHg
- Observed at
- KTOA
- METAR
- KTOA 231747Z 00000KT 10SM SKC 27/07 A3014
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 30, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 932 KB 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.