Lamb-Robin BOWERS FLY BABY N359RJ

Summary

On 3 April 2016 at about 01:05 local time, a Lamb-Robin BOWERS FLY BABY registered N359RJ was involved in an accident near Guthrie, Oklahoma, United States. One person was on board and one 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

3 April 2016 at 01:05

Classification

Accident

Location

Guthrie, Oklahoma, United States

Nearest airport

Guthrie-Edmond Rgnl (GOK)

Coordinates

35.8514, -97.4161

Aircraft

Lamb-Robin BOWERS FLY BABY

Registration

N359RJ

Category

Airplane

Year built

1978

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Guthrie → Guthrie

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Dusk

NTSB number

GAA16CA180

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot's exceedance of the airplane's critical angle of attack during the initial climb, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and a collision with terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that during the initial climb, the airplane aerodynamically stalled. He reported that he was unable to recover the airplane due to the low altitude and the airplane impacted a field off the departure end of the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, right wing, and right elevator. The pilot verified that there were no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation. As a safety recommendation, the pilot reported that using full power on takeoff would have prevented the accident. The Federal Aviation Administration has published the Airplane Flying Handbook FAA-H-8083-3A (2004). This handbook discusses stalls and states in part: The key to stall awareness is the pilot's ability to visualize the wing's angle of attack in any particular circumstance, and thereby be able to estimate his/her margin of safety above stall. This is a learned skill that must be acquired early in flight training and carried through the pilot's entire flying career. The pilot must understand and appreciate factors such as airspeed, pitch attitude, load factor, relative wind, power setting, and aircraft configuration in order to develop a reasonably accurate mental picture of the wing's angle of attack at any particular time. It is essential to flight safety that a pilot takes into consideration this visualization of the wing's angle of attack prior to entering any flight maneuver. Stall accidents usually result from an inadvertent stall at a low altitude in which a recovery was not accomplished prior to contact with the surface.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.