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Sharp turn at low altitude a bad combination

By NTSB · November 5, 2020 ·

The commercial pilot took off from a dry lake bed in Flanigan, Nevada, in a Kitfox S7 SuperSport with another airplane for people on the ground to visually compare the two.

After a normal flight, the second airplane landed. The pilot flew past the landing spot, pulled into a nose-high attitude, and made a rapid left turn. He pushed on the left rudder control, and the left wing stalled.

He attempted to recover from the stall, however the airplane was at too low of an altitude to recover, and it hit the ground in a nose-low attitude. The pilot was seriously injured in the crash.

The pilot reported no mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. It is likely that he failed to maintain airspeed during the sharp turn, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall.

Probable cause: The pilot’s failure to maintain airspeed during a sharp turn at low altitude, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall.

NTSB Identification: WPR19TA018

This November 2018 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.

About NTSB

The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent federal agency charged by Congress with investigating every civil aviation accident in the United States and significant events in the other modes of transportation, including railroad, transit, highway, marine, pipeline, and commercial space. It determines the probable causes of accidents and issues safety recommendations aimed at preventing future occurrences.

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Comments

  1. Bill says

    November 6, 2020 at 8:47 am

    What’s a sharp turn?
    Do you mean a high rate of turn?
    Or did you mean a cross controlled turn
    A Commercial Rated pilot and a Commercial pilot are two different sentences.

    • JimH in CA says

      November 6, 2020 at 3:16 pm

      From the docket, he pitched up and rapidly rolled into a left bank. He also applied enough left rudder to ‘skid’ the turn, yawing left, which stalled the left wing.
      So, it was an abrupt, uncoordinated turn, causing a stall/ spin close to the ground with no altitude to recover.

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