Cessna 177 N29601 accident near Pine Bluff, Arkansas

Probable cause

The pilot’s failure to maintain adequate airspeed and her exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle-of-attack during a low-altitude turn, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall.

NTSB analysis

According to the pilot, during a flour bomb competition at a local airport, she was making a bomb run parallel to runway 18 and slowed the airplane to 80 knots, with zero flaps, mixture was rich, throttle was about 75 percent, and carburetor heat was used. About 300 feet above the ground she dropped the bag of flour. She reported that after dropping the flour, she immediately advanced the throttle to full, ensured the mixture was full rich, zero flaps, and carburetor heat was placed in the cold position, but the engine hesitated when full throttle was applied. She reported that she lowered the nose in order to increase the airspeed and made a left turn to re-enter the pattern before establishing a positive rate of climb. She recalled that when she lowered the nose, the airspeed increased to about 100 knots indicated, she turned to the left, and the airplane did not climb. She recalled that the airplane continued to descend into a cornfield, bounced, and when the airplane settled back to the ground, the left main landing gear wheel became stuck in the mud and the airplane nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, both wings, and the empennage.

Per the Pilot's Aircraft Accident Report in the (NTSB Form 6120.1 rev. 2013), the pilot reported that when full throttle was applied, the heading of 180 degrees should have been maintained until adequate airspeed was attained before turning crosswind. She asserted that, if the heading of 180 degrees was maintained when full power was not achieved, the plane could have landed on the runway.

The Federal Aviation Administration Aviation Safety Inspector that traveled to the accident site, interviewed witnesses and inspected the airplane. The Inspector reported that per the witness statements, the airplane was below the flour bomb designated minimum altitude of 200 feet above the ground and very slow. He reported that according to witnesses the aircraft stalled, lost altitude and landed in a corn field just off the airport property.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for GAA16CA266 for the full record.