Jabiru Aircraft Pty Ltd J170-D N772J accident near Winchester, Virginia

Probable cause

The pilot’s loss of directional control on landing. Contributing to the outcome was the pilot’s decision to continue the aborted landing after the airplane had departed the runway surface.

NTSB analysis

According to the student pilot, she was practicing soft field and short field landings. She made five uneventful short field landings and was going to switch to soft field landings. While on approach, she noticed the airplane was left of centerline therefore during touchdown, she applied right rudder and right aileron. The airplane turned right, then turned left, and was heading off the runway. She then decided to abort the landing; however, the nose wheel was not straight and when she applied full power, the airplane veered off the left side of the runway and toward a row of hangars. The airplane struck the door of a hangar with the right wing, propeller, and then the left wing before coming to a stop on the ramp, which resulted in substantial damage to the wings, fuselage, and engine mounts. The owner reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for ERA21LA204 for the full record.