PARRAKEET A-1 N14842 accident near Rhome, Texas

Probable cause

The pilot's exceedance of the airplane's critical angle of attack after takeoff, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall.

NTSB analysis

The private pilot had just departed from the airport when witnesses observed the airplane not climbing and about 100 ft above the ground. Another witness observed the airplane a nose-high attitude. The airplane was struggling to gain altitude before it banked "hard" to the right, entered a "sharp" nose-down attitude, and impacted a field near the airport.

Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. The ground scarring at the accident site, the crush angle of the airframe, and the observed wing drop before the airplane's descent into terrain were consistent with an exceedance of the airplane's critical angle of attack and a resulting aerodynamic stall.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for CEN18FA265 for the full record.