Off Target: The High Cost of Trying to Salvage a Bad Approach

It wasn’t that important for one Georgia pilot to get it right.

Peter Garrison

Wednesday, September 30, 2026 at 08:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

Mastering the 180-degree, power-off approach requires not just accuracy, but the judgment to go around when conditions fail. Pilots must remember that a missed maneuver is a learning opportunity, not failure. [Credit: Glenn Watson]

Key Takeaways:

A pilot and instructor died practicing a challenging 180-degree, power-off approach when the pilot stalled the aircraft at low altitude while attempting to salvage a misjudged final.
The NTSB attributed the crash to the pilot exceeding the critical angle of attack and the instructor's failure to intervene, potentially influenced by the instructor's limited recent flight experience or their personal friendship.
The primary lesson from the accident is the danger of attempting to "fix" a failed approach with extreme maneuvers at low levels; instead, pilots should recognize an unsalvageable approach and safely execute a go-around.

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A Georgia pilot, 52, had 380 hours, an instrument rating, and a Cirrus SR22. He was working on his commercial. He had the day free, so he called an instructor friend and arranged to do some flying.

One of the skills tested for the commercial license—it used to be required for the private as well, but no longer—is the 180-degree, power-off approach to a landing. You cut power to idle on the downwind leg abeam a target point on the runway. You have to touch down on or beyond that target, but within 200 feet of it. It’s a routine landing for a sailplane, but in a powered airplane it has the exotic flavor of an emergency.