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I thought I was going to crash

By NASA · January 3, 2023 ·

This is an excerpt from a report made to the Aviation Safety Reporting System. The narrative is written by the pilot, rather than FAA or NTSB officials. To maintain anonymity, many details, such as aircraft model or airport, are often scrubbed from the reports.

On short final, Tower asked me to make a left hand turn and go-around and report entering base leg, due to aircraft still on runway. I made a left turn and was climbing to get over power lines to the west of runway.

Just as I was over the power lines, the left wing dipped severely and the right wing dipped severely. I had very little control of the plane. I was able to get the plane headed toward the runway. The plane continued to dip left and right and was losing altitude. I thought I was going to crash.

I radioed that I had a situation.

I felt like I was in a dust devil or some other type of turbulence.

I was able to gain control about 100 feet or so off the runway and land without any damage.

Someone from the airport met me and asked me to fill out their form, which I did.

I thoroughly pre-flighted my aircraft after taking 20 minutes or so to calm down after my landing. I found nothing amiss and flew home, approximately 83 sm.

I am still not sure what happened. I do not know what could have been done to prevent my experience.

Primary Problem: Ambiguous

ACN: 1926820

About NASA

NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) captures confidential reports, analyzes the resulting aviation safety data, and disseminates vital information to the aviation community.

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Comments

  1. Alburn Cary says

    January 4, 2023 at 11:00 am

    Sounds like a solo student who was on short final at low airspeed who misunderstood tower’s instructions. While low and slow, instead of going around properly with full power and sidestepping to the left of the runway, he turned across the pattern while on the verge of a stall, attempting to climb without adding power. And then, he “flew the radio” instead of the airplane.

    Cute: lots more training before being sent out on another solo cross country.

  2. James Jemail says

    January 4, 2023 at 4:46 am

    If this pilot wishes to find the answer to why he experienced such an event he/she needs to provide detailed information. The FAA/NTSB should not accept this report until additional information is provided otherwise it is worthless

  3. DA says

    January 4, 2023 at 4:34 am

    This description of a problem is very short on details, even for this type of report. Did the pilot remember to add power, remove carb heat, or just wallow about in slow flight? Who approached, and what form? Did the tower issue a warning because the pilot did not see the aircraft on the runway? Were there any radio calls?

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