Pilot Debrief

CESSNA 551 near Stillwater, OK — 2009-05-05

Final reportCEN09LA281
Sign in to save
Date
2009-05-05
Location
Stillwater, OK, USA
Aircraft
CESSNA 551
Registration
N740JB
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Cruise

Probable cause

The pilot's loss of control for undetermined reasons.

NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that after leveling off at 16,000 feet with the autopilot engaged, he began to review his charts preparing for landing. When he went back to a visual scan of the instruments, he noted that the flight director was flagged off and that both the pilot and co-pilot attitude indicators were off. The pilot declared an emergency with air traffic control, reduced the throttles to idle, and pulled back on the controls. After the airplane came out of the bottom of the clouds and the pilot regained visual contact with the ground, the airplane was in a 60-degree left turn at approximately 80 knots of airspeed. After the pilot regained control, the flight director and all instruments began working again. The pilot then re-engaged the autopilot and continued to his destination, where he landed without further incident. Examination of the flight director system, gyros, and attitude indicators at the aircraft manufacturer’s facilities failed to identify a failure or malfunction with the flight instruments.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Loss of control
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have checked instruments before engaging autopilot.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • CVR
  • ATC audio
  • ADS-B / radar
  • Photos
  • 14 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents14

Related mishaps