The private pilot and student pilot passenger were departing on a local personal flight from a 2,000-foot turf runway. The passenger reported that the Cessna 150 seemed to “struggle to climb” after clearing trees near the end of the runway at the airport in Woodstock, Georgia.
He heard the stall warning horn activate, and the airplane descended into trees and hit the ground.
The student pilot was seriously injured, while the private pilot died in the crash.
Witnesses reported that the airplane “wobbled” as it climbed and that the right wing dropped before the airplane crashed into the woods.
Although the airplane’s most recent annual inspection was completed about eight years before the accident, examination of the airframe and engine did not reveal any evidence of a preaccident malfunction or anomaly.
A review of the pilot’s logbook revealed no current flight review or recent flight experience, and the pilot did not hold a current medical certificate.
Reported wind conditions at a nearby airport indicated that a quartering tailwind may have been present about the time of the accident, with gusts up to 20 knots.
Based on the available information, it is likely the pilot failed to maintain airspeed during the initial climb in gusting wind conditions, which resulted in an exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack, an aerodynamic stall, and loss of control.
Probable cause: The pilot’s failure to maintain airspeed during the initial climb in gusting wind conditions, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and loss of control. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s lack of recent flight experience.
NTSB Identification: ERA19LA037
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.
Leave at what it was, simply a bad decision to take off in barely a plane with a 20k gusting tailwind.
Looking at the accident data from the NTSB Docket, it looks like they were taking off on runway 36. There’s upsloped terrain, a road, and trees off the north end.
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.1100781,-84.4479222,3a,80.5y,352.63h,100.01t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s1GRfqxS6CMjcRLWSntNAfw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192
Both fuel tanks were breached, so there’s no way of knowing how much fuel they were trying to take off with. $20 says they were over max gross.
Unless they both weighed around 100 lbs, no way I’d have tried that myself. I own a 150M and weigh 150 lbs. I’ll take 220 lb passengers with me all day long, but only with an hour of fuel and a 45 min reserve, and I’m flying off a 5,000 ft paved runway. A 2,000 ft grass runway? I’d do at least one takeoff with no passenger to see how it performed before I thought about bringing someone out of there with me. Even then I’d probably call it no-go unless I was absolutely sure.
The 150 is a very capable plane, but realistically it has its limits, and this is what happens when you don’t believe in limits.
Yes. This story is a litany of scofflaw and stupidity…You don’t need a mechanical failure when flying an max loaded, anemic, and under-powered aircraft that cruises at 80kts and has a stall speed of 45kts with a 20kt tailwind on takeoff.
Stupidly and disregard of the rules obviously does not end well. This is also a black mark for GA. People need to stop doing this stuff. No inspections, no recent experience, and no medical (even basic med), why? None of these are hard to do, and the costs are much less than loss of lives. I certainly hope the other person with him had no knowledge of the pilot’s omissions, particularly since he was a student pilot, because knowing any of them and getting in for that flight would have been as bad judgement as the pilot who died.
The issues with the aircraft and pilot are probably repeated more often than we imagine, and they need to stop. The future of aviation, GA in particular, depends on it……….it is not just about you….think bigger and give up aviation if you can’t be a responsible adult/human being.
Well said!