The pilot reported that, during the right downwind in the traffic pattern at the airport in Caldwell, Texas, he was about 1/4 mile from the runway, which was “too close.”
He added that, “during a poorly planned and executed base to final approach,” he performed an “uncoordinated” right bank about 45°, and the Luscombe’s right wing dropped, which resulted in a descending right roll.
He attempted to recover, but the airplane hit terrain, sustaining substantial damage to the fuselage and right wing.
The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Probable cause: The pilot’s failure to maintain yaw control and the exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack in the traffic pattern, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall/spin.
NTSB Identification: GAA18CA061
This November 2017 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
Instead of teaching stall spin awareness, teach stall spin, ” AVOIDANCE”.
Just sounds like a serious lack of basic flying skills.
A tight downwind followed by a high performance skidding turn is not a good thing, but it’s the stall that’s GOT TO BE AVOIDED. Stalls speeds are higher in a 45 degree bank – the nose must be kept lower to keep a safety margin. This can be done just as well with the airspeed indicator and pitch reference to the horizon as with an angle of attack indicator. The question is where were the pilot’s eyes. My guess in all of these base to final incidents and accidents is they were probably fixated on the runway. That is just not going to work.
600 hours in the airplane and he still can’t fly the pattern correctly. Banking 45 deg on the base to final turn and probably got an accelerated stall with too little altitude to recover….and wrecked a classic aircraft.
Aren’t we all taught to use 20 deg max.in the pattern ? if you aren’t lined up on short final…GO AROUND.!
Why limit the bank angle in a pattern to 20° max when instead you could teach pilots better stall/spin awareness? Such awareness will pay off whenever it really gets critical.
No such thing as stall/spin awareness when slow and low. It’s all over the second you stall the wing. Better to equip with an AoA meter and never allow yourself to go near the red regardless of speed/angle on base to final. The meter does all the load factor and wing angle calcs for you. But if you don’t have this advancement…the answer is NEVER bank more than 20 which gives you buffer for your speed and overshoot. Also, always be descending on base to final. You can help yourself from exceeding critical angle by pointing the nose down in that phase of flight. If you get too low, add power and low pass and go around if you fail to make the runway properly.
The narrative implies that the pilot was using bottom rudder as well as a steep bank to speed up the turn to final. I doubt that an AoA meter would have been much help. Basic airmanship would, and you are correct in stating that a go around instead of trying to salvage the approach is the best choice.