Probable Cause: The pilot’s failure to maintain airplane control during recovery from a bounced landing, which resulted in the exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack and an aerodynamic stall.
NTSB Accidents
Fuel contamination leads to total loss of engine power
Probable Cause: A total loss of engine power as a result of fuel contamination.
Failure to use carb heat after extended ground delay leads to forced landing
Probable Cause: The pilot’s failure to use carburetor heat during an extended ground delay before takeoff, which resulted in a total loss of engine power during initial climb due to carburetor ice.
Pilot seriously injured on third flight in new airplane
Probable Cause: The pilot’s inadequate fuel management, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.
Crashed plane ‘just didn’t have enough fuel’
Probable Cause: The pilot’s inadequate preflight fuel planning, which resulted in fuel exhaustion.
Mechanic’s error brings down just-purchased Piper
Probable Cause: Maintenance personnel’s failure to secure the fuel strainer bowl with safety wire, which resulted in the fuel strainer bowl leaking and starving the engine of fuel. Also causal was the obstruction of two fuel injector nozzles.
Cessna 172 runs out of fuel during flight lesson
Probable Cause: The flight instructor’s inadequate fuel planning and improper in-flight decision-making, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.
Fuel exhaustion leads to forced landing
Probable Cause: The pilot’s inadequate preflight fuel planning, which resulted in fuel exhaustion.
Failure to activate pitot heat leads to loss of control
Probable Cause: The pilot’s failure to activate the pitot heat in a timely manner during flight into icing conditions, which resulted in a temporary failure of the flight instruments and a subsequent loss of control.