Piper PA-28-235 accident near Lake Havasu City, Arizona, May 8, 2010
On May 8, 2010 at about 5:20 pm local time, a Piper PA-28-235, registered N918JR, was substantially damaged in an accident during approach (VFR go-around) near Lake Havasu City, Arizona (Lake Havasu City airport). It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The student pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control during a go-around, resulting in a stall/mush.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- May 8, 2010 · about 5:20 pm local time
- Place
- Lake Havasu City, Arizona · Lake Havasu City · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-28-235 · all PA-28-235s on the register
- Registration
- N918JR · registry record · serial 28-10791
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The student pilot was on a local training flight. After flying about 1 hour in the practice area, she returned to the airport to perform touch-and-go takeoffs and landings. The reported winds at the time of the accident were 200 at 4 knots. During the approach to runway 32, she felt that a crosswind blew the airplane to the left. Landing in this position would have resulted in excessive stress to the left main landing gear. The student pilot initiated a go-around, applying full power and turning off carburetor heat. She indicated that at this point, an updraft pushed the airplane nose up and the airplane stalled. The student pilot attempted to recover from the stall; however, the "controls were sloppy and the airplane was not responding." The airplane came to rest inverted.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
What happened, in order
- Loss of control in flight during approach (VFR go-around) defining event
- Nose over/nose down during landing
The NTSB's findings
- cause Personnel issues › Task performance › Use of equip/info › Aircraft control › Pilot
- cause Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability › Performance/control parameters › (general) › Not attained/maintained
Dual student
- Certificate: student
- Flight time: 42 hours in all; 42 in this make and model; 16 in the last 90 days; 11 in the last 30 days
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (with waivers/limitations)
- Seat: left
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Maximum gross weight: 2,900 lb
- Seats: 4
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming O-540 B4B5 (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: HII Lake Havasu AZ at 4:08 pm
- Destination: HII Lake Havasu AZ
- Flight plan: not recorded
- Runway 32, 8,000 ft by 100 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 080° at 5 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 81°F (27°C), dew point 21°F (-6°C)
- Altimeter: 29.85 inHg
- Observation at 4:56 pm from EED, 17 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flight crew | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, the folder of records gathered during the investigation, shown as the NTSB released them (the NTSB redacts some personal details first) and listed under the NTSB's own titles. This site's own text never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number WPR10CA233.