CESSNA 170 — Williston, FL, 2017

CESSNA 170 — Williston, FL

4 fatal High-time pilot

Date	April 15, 2017
Location	Williston, FL
Aircraft	CESSNA 170
Purpose of flight	Personal
Conditions	Day · Visual Meteorological Cond
Phase / occurrence	Uncontrolled descent Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT)
Pilot age	37
Pilot total time	2,350 hrs · Experienced
Time in type	Unknown
Fatalities	4

Probable cause

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed during initial climb in gusty wind conditions, which resulted in the airplane exceeding its critical angle-of-attack and experiencing an aerodynamic stall/spin.

NTSB findings

Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Airspeed-Not attained/maintained - C
Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Angle of attack-Not attained/maintained - C
Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Gusts-Effect on operation

What happened

***This report was modified on October 15, 2018. Please see the docket for this accident to view the original report.***

The commercial pilot and three passengers were making a personal cross-country flight in the airplane. After a refueling stop, the airplane taxied to the runway and departed. Security video and flight data showed that the airplane had just departed the airport and was about 280 ft above the ground when it stalled and spun to the left, impacting the ground in a nose-down attitude. Post-accident examination of the engine and airframe revealed no evidence of a mechanical anomaly or failure that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane. The recorded weather at the airport at the time of the accident included a right-quartering headwind at 8 knots gusting to 17 knots. The flight data revealed that the airplane slowed to an estimated airspeed (ground speed with correction applied for reported wind conditions) of around 49 to 51 knots just before the stall occurred, which was near the airplane's published power-on stall speed of 46 knots; however, the gusting wind conditions likely resulted in a further decrease of the airplane's airspeed and increase of its angle-of-attack.

An editorial "what led to it / how to avoid it" analysis for this accident is generated separately and will appear here.