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CFI Takes Control During Landing, Then Loses Control

By General Aviation News Staff · April 7, 2026 · 9 Comments

The pilot receiving instruction reported that while on short final approach to the airport in Paso Robles, California, he recognized that he was aligned with the wrong runway.

The flight instructor took control of the Cirrus SR22T and banked hard to the right in an attempt to land on the runway they had been cleared to land on.

Almost immediately the stall warning sounded. The CFI applied throttle and attempted to level the aircraft. The landing gear contacted the runway. The airplane continued across the runway into a field and came to rest inverted.

The pilot receiving instruction sustained serious injury and the airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage.

Probable Cause: The flight instructor’s failure to maintain adequate airspeed during landing, which resulted in a loss of directional control and runway excursion. Contributing to the accident was the pilot receiving instructions failure to maintain runway alignment.

NTSB Identification: 194129

To download the final report. Click here. This will trigger a PDF download to your device.

This April 2024 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.

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Comments

  1. Jerry Kemp says

    April 10, 2026 at 12:59 pm

    The CFI must have been looking at his phone or something when the student was lining up on the wrong runway! What was he there for? Sounds like the student would have been safer without him/her/they/them!

    Reply
  2. rwyerosk says

    April 9, 2026 at 8:31 am

    The CFI and Student has limited experience and that is the cause of this accident…..

    The CFI will hold the bag, but the Student was too involved in areas he believed he had the experience he needed to properly fly this high performance aircraft…..

    Amazing……

    Reply
  3. Mitchell Darnell says

    April 8, 2026 at 11:59 am

    What was the age and flight hours of the CFI???

    Reply
  4. Scott Patterson says

    April 8, 2026 at 9:52 am

    Seems to be a lot of “CFI taking control” issues.

    Reply
  5. James B. Potter says

    April 8, 2026 at 6:36 am

    Yet another Stirling example of the high value a CFI in the right seat provides to the PIC.

    Reply
    • Warren Webb Jr says

      April 8, 2026 at 7:17 am

      Well, that’s usually the case. A student solo on the first lesson wouldn’t work too well.

      Reply
  6. Deborah King says

    April 8, 2026 at 4:41 am

    Wrong runway?. Go around wasn’t first on the list of responses?

    Reply
  7. Tom Curran says

    April 7, 2026 at 5:58 pm

    Holy Cow…what a goat rope!

    Read the “Pilot Receiving Instruction” statement. That CFI had no business being in that airplane…

    If your IFR clearance is to a non-towered airport, ATC doesn’t care which approach & runway you plan to use. If your plan changes, for whatever reason, fly the plane-first-and let them know when you’re able.

    Reply
    • DA says

      April 8, 2026 at 6:31 am

      ^ This. Fly the plane, don’t try to hot-shot it to the student, making him think that manoeuvers in the extreme are acceptable. In this case, very costly. A go-around would have been the prudent action, and a teaching moment for the student. He did learn what NOT to do, but not in a good way.

      Reply

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