Pilot Debrief

STINSON 108-3 near Santa Clarita, CA — 2012-03-12

Final reportWPR12CA129
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Date
2012-03-12
Location
Santa Clarita, CA, USA
Aircraft
STINSON 108-3
Registration
N4143C
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
Minor
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Climb

Probable cause

The pilot's delayed decision to abandon the landing attempt, which resulted in the airplane colliding with rising terrain. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's decision to land with a tailwind.

NTSB narrative

The airplane owner/pilot stated that he overflew the airstrip, which was oriented northeast/southwest in hilly terrain, and saw that the windsock indicated light wind from the southwest. He entered a left traffic pattern for a landing to the northeast (downwind). When the airplane was about halfway down the airstrip, it had still not touched down, and the pilot decided to abandon the landing attempt. He applied takeoff power, pitched and trimmed for a climb, established a positive rate of climb, and retracted the flaps. The airplane did not appear to be outclimbing the rising terrain, so the pilot increased the pitch attitude in an attempt to increase the climb rate. The stall warning sounded a few times, and, each time, the pilot readjusted the pitch as necessary to silence the warning. The pilot continued to fly the runway heading because he did not want to attempt any turns and thereby risk an aerodynamic stall. The airplane impacted terrain about 1.6 miles from and about 1,000 feet above the midpoint of the airstrip. A fire, first visible on the right side of the cowling near the battery, quickly ensued, which consumed the fuselage and wings. The pilot reported that he did not experience any mechanical conditions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Loss of control
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have aborted the takeoff earlier to avoid terrain impact.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • 5 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents5

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