Pilot Debrief

CIRRUS DESIGN CORP SR20 near Navasota, TX — 2016-02-28

Final reportCEN16FA111
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Date
2016-02-28
Location
Navasota, TX, USA
Airport
60R
Aircraft
CIRRUS DESIGN CORP SR20
Registration
N477TC
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
Fatal
Fatalities
4
Phase of flight
Climb

Probable cause

The flight instructor's delayed remedial action to prevent a stall at an altitude that was too low to recover. Contributing to the accident was the owner/non-certificated pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane, which resulted in an accelerated aerodynamic stall.

Contributing factors

Contributing to the accident was the owner/non-certificated pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane, which resulted in an accelerated aerodynamic stall.

NTSB narrative

The flight instructor and the airplane owner, who did not hold a pilot certificate, were practicing takeoffs and landings in the airplane at an uncontrolled airport. Based on logbook records, this was most likely an instructional flight and the owner was most likely flying the airplane. Air traffic control radar and primary flight display data showed that they had performed two touch-and-go landings followed by two full stop landings before the accident. Shortly after taking off following the second full stop landing, while climbing through 550 ft mean sea level (msl) at an indicated airspeed of about 92 knots, the airplane entered a left bank and began to decelerate. The airplane began to descend, and the airspeed subsequently decreased below 75 knots before it began to increase. The airplane reached a 61° left-wing-down attitude at an airspeed of about 79 knots before entering a rapid roll to the right, through an inverted position. At about the same time, the airplane began a rapid pitch down, reaching a 69° nose-down attitude. The airplane briefly recovered to nearly wings level but again began to pitch down until the final recorded data point, which showed the airplane in a 65° nose-down and 45° right-wing-down attitude, at 268 ft msl, and 89 knots indicated airspeed. The airplane impacted terrain about 0.43 miles from the departure end of the runway. Postaccident examination of the airplane did not reveal any mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have prevented normal operation. Calculations based on the airplane's weight at the time of the accident indicated that, at 1g with flaps up, the aerodynamic stall speed would have been 75 to 78 knots calibrated airspeed. The stall speed in a 60° turn (2 g) would have been 105 to 109 knots. Therefore, it is likely that the combination of a steep left bank and low airspeed resulted in an accelerated aerodynamic stall.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Loss of control
First missed decision gate
The flight instructor could have aborted the climb after initial roll to the left.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • FDR / data
  • ADS-B / radar
  • Photos
  • 17 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents17

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