MIA07CA020 · Liberty Aerospace Inc. XL-2
Liberty Aerospace Inc. XL-2 · Accident: loss of control in flight on approach
From Melbourne Orlando International Airport (KMLB) to Melbourne Orlando International Airport (KMLB)
Event
- NTSB case
- MIA07CA020
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Liberty Aerospace Inc. XL-2
- Aircraft type
- Liberty Aerospace XL-2
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N508XL
- Operator
- Liberty Aerospace
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Melbourne Orlando International Airport (KMLB), Melbourne, FLTo Melbourne Orlando International Airport (KMLB), Melbourne, FL
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Approach · VFR go-around
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Loss of control in flight
- Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
- Stall
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Dual student › Relinquishing of control, not performed
- Terrain condition › Runway
Approximate · Coordinates from the NTSB case API, which marks them as estimated or does not say; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
The certified flight instructor (CFI) stated the pilot was on a familiarization training flight, due to an anticipated purchase of the airplane. They reviewed stalls, flight configuration changes, and emergency procedures before practicing landings. The CFI demonstrated the first landing and elected to have the pilot perform the second landing. The CFI called for a go around due to the unstable approach and high flare. During the second attempt to land by the pilot, the flared was too high, about 10 feet above the ground. The pilot did not respond to the instructions for corrective action and go around. At that point, the CFI called for the controls and initiated full engine power for the go around as the airplane was being blown and pulled to the left side of the runway in a nose high, slow airspeed, and unstable condition; the crosswind was from the right pushing the airplane toward the left. The airplane was about 1/3 down the runway when it departed the runway. The CFI's attempts to gain control of the airplane were unsuccessful due to the pilot not relinquishing the flight controls. The airplane came to a stop after impacting a small tree and brushes in the area adjacent to the runway. The CFI stated there were no mechanical failures or malfunctions to the airplane or any of its systems prior to the accident. Witnesses stated that they observed the accident airplane attempting an approach to the runway flying in an erratic matter. The airplane discontinued the approach and flew the pattern for another approach to the runway. The approach was again erratic. The airplane stalled and fell to the runway on its left wing. The airplane appeared pushed off the runway by the winds. The airplane came to rest in a grassy area off the left side of the runway.
Probable cause
The pilot's (Dual Student) failure to relinquish control of the airplane when instructed by the certified flight instructor resulting in airspeed not being maintained and an inadvertent stall.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record MIA07CA020
- Event ID
- 20061220X01810
- Case number
- MIA07CA020
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status, coordinates. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 329d184966a78cb0feee9437804975019503e1e189d4f95f25136437b1bf454d; retrieved 2026-09-22T04:13:05.827Z.