Stall / Spin · NTSB WPR18FA279
Cessna 177RG — La Verne, CA
| Date | September 30, 2018 |
| Location | La Verne, CA |
| Aircraft | Cessna 177RG |
| Purpose of flight | Personal |
| Conditions | Day · Visual Meteorological Cond |
| Phase / occurrence | Takeoff Aerodynamic stall/spin |
| Pilot age | 69 |
| Pilot total time | 3,200 hrs · High time |
| Time in type | 2,996 hrs |
| Fatalities | 1, 1 serious |
Probable cause
NTSB findings
- Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
- Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Angle of attack-Not attained/maintained - C
- Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Airspeed-Not attained/maintained - C
- Not determined-Not determined-(general)-(general)-Unknown/Not determined - F
What happened
The pilot and passenger were departing the airport; a witness stated that he heard backfiring during the airplane's takeoff roll. He then observed the airplane become airborne and the landing gear start to retract. About 1 minute 30 seconds after the pilot received take off clearance, the pilot requested a return to the airport due to an engine problem. The air traffic controller cleared the pilot to land on runway 8L, and the pilot subsequently initiated a right turn. The witness then observed the airplane descend to the ground in a nose-low attitude. It is likely that, while returning to the airport after takeoff, the pilot failed to maintain the proper airspeed, which resulted in the exceedance of the airplane's critical angle of attack and the airplane experienced an aerodynamic stall.
Examination of the airframe and engine did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation and the cause of the engine problem, as reported by the pilot, could not be determined.