Cessna A188 N53163

Summary

On 27 July 2020 at about 15:45 local time, a Cessna A188 registered N53163 was involved in an accident near Corsica, South Dakota, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

27 July 2020 at 15:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Corsica, South Dakota, United States

Nearest airport

Corsica Municipal (D65)

Coordinates

43.4283, -98.2444

Aircraft

Cessna A188

Registration

N53163

Category

Airplane

Year built

1974

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Corsica → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN20LA309

1 person died.

The pilot’s exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and loss of control.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

On the day of the accident, the pilot had flown for about 2.5 hours, practicing aerial application operations with loads of water. The accident occurred on his third flight of the day. According to witnesses, the pilot had just completed two passes over the field. After completing the second pass, the pilot entered a turn to return for another pass when the airplane suddenly nosed over and impacted the ground. The airplane was destroyed by the impact with the ground. One of the witnesses noted that the airplane entered a descending spiral before impact. Two witnesses heard a loud noise from the airplane similar to a "backfire" or "an over-inflated tire bursting," before seeing it "nosedive." All three witnesses stated that the airplane appeared to be flying normally before the accident occurred. A postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. Toxicology testing showed evidence of the pilot’s use of multiple potentially impairing drugs; however, no active substances were found in the pilot’s blood following the accident. Therefore, it is unlikely that effects from the pilot’s use of these substances contributed to the accident. Based on the available information, it is likely that the pilot allowed the airplane’s airspeed to decay during the turn and the airplane exceeded its critical angle of attack, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and loss of control at an altitude too low for recovery.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.