Airplane Factory (Pty) Ltd SLING LSA N863SL accident near Torrance, California

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.

NTSB 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.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for WPR22LA135 for the full record.