Stinson 108-3 N4143C

Summary

On 12 March 2012 at about 01:49 local time, a Stinson 108-3 registered N4143C was involved in an accident near Santa Clarita, California, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

12 March 2012 at 01:49

Classification

Accident

Location

Santa Clarita, California, United States

Coordinates

34.5481, -118.3353

Aircraft

Stinson 108-3

Registration

N4143C

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Agua Dulce → Santa Clarita

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR12CA129

2 people had minor injuries.

The pilot's delayed decision to abandon the landing attempt, which resulted in the airplane colliding with rising terrain. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's decision to land with a tailwind.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane owner/pilot stated that he overflew the airstrip, which was oriented northeast/southwest in hilly terrain, and saw that the windsock indicated light wind from the southwest. He entered a left traffic pattern for a landing to the northeast (downwind). When the airplane was about halfway down the airstrip, it had still not touched down, and the pilot decided to abandon the landing attempt. He applied takeoff power, pitched and trimmed for a climb, established a positive rate of climb, and retracted the flaps. The airplane did not appear to be outclimbing the rising terrain, so the pilot increased the pitch attitude in an attempt to increase the climb rate. The stall warning sounded a few times, and, each time, the pilot readjusted the pitch as necessary to silence the warning. The pilot continued to fly the runway heading because he did not want to attempt any turns and thereby risk an aerodynamic stall. The airplane impacted terrain about 1.6 miles from and about 1,000 feet above the midpoint of the airstrip. A fire, first visible on the right side of the cowling near the battery, quickly ensued, which consumed the fuselage and wings. The pilot reported that he did not experience any mechanical conditions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.