Alon A-2A N818SW

Summary

On 19 December 2025 at about 14:18 local time, a Alon A-2A registered N818SW was involved in an accident near Winter Haven, Florida, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. No probable cause has been published yet; this accident is still under investigation.

Date

19 December 2025 at 14:18

Classification

Accident

Location

Winter Haven, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Winter Haven Rgnl (GIF)

Coordinates

28.0663, -81.7477

Aircraft

Alon A-2A

Registration

N818SW

Category

Airplane

Year built

1968

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fort Myers → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA26LA089

Nobody was injured.

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. The investigation is still open; a final report usually follows one to two years after the accident.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

On December 19, 2025, about 0918 EST, an Alon A-2A, N818SW, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident at Winter Haven Regional Airport (GIF), Winter Haven, Florida. The commercial pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14?Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The pilot stated that he experienced no issues with the rudder control system while taxiing prior to departure. After takeoff the flight proceeded uneventfully to GIF with no rudder flight control issues in-flight. The airplane was landed smoothly in the first 200 ft of the runway and during the landing roll he applied right rudder to maintain runway centerline and slightly overcorrected, causing him to apply left rudder input. He heard a “pop” sound, and after that point the left rudder acted like, “it was loose and went all the way in.” The airplane began veering to the left which he could not correct with right rudder. At that point he pulled the mixture control, and turned the magneto switch and electrical systems off. The airplane went off the runway onto grass, impacted a sign with the tie down ring of the left wing damaging the left-wing main spar, then came to rest on a taxiway.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.