Pilot Debrief

CRAIN JAC A BD-4 near Clarinda, IA — 2012-02-19

Final reportCEN12LA167
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Date
2012-02-19
Location
Clarinda, IA, USA
Aircraft
CRAIN JAC A BD-4
Registration
N215BD
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
Fatal
Fatalities
1
Phase of flight
Descent

Probable cause

A loss of airplane control for reasons that could not be determined because postaccident examination of the airplane and engine did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.

NTSB narrative

Global positioning system data indicated that the airplane had taken off about 41 minutes before the accident and had flown about 60 nautical miles. The last portion of the data indicated that the airplane was making a descending left turn toward the departure airport. The last recorded position was almost directly above the accident site; the airplane impacted a field in a near vertical attitude about 1.2 miles from the airport. Based on the last two recorded data positions, the airplane was in a 60 foot-per-minute rate of descent at 115 knots on a heading of 351 degrees. This data indicated that the airplane was well above the airplane’s stall speed and provided no explanation for the mishap. Postaccident examination of the airplane and its engine did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Loss of control
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have avoided steep descent before impact.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • ADS-B / radar
  • Photos
  • 19 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents19

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