Cessna 150J N51160

Summary

On 8 December 1990 at about 17:00 local time, a Cessna 150J registered N51160, operated by Shelby Aviation, Inc., was involved in an accident near Ripley, Tennessee, 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

8 December 1990 at 17:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Ripley, Tennessee, United States

Coordinates

35.7391, -89.5308

Aircraft

Cessna 150J

Registration

N51160

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Shelby Aviation, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Covington → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ATL91FA025

1 person died.

PERFORMING A STALL MANEUVER AT AN ALTITUDE BELOW PRESCRIBED MINIMUMS, AND HIS FAILURE TO APPLY CORRECT FLIGHT CONTROL INPUTS TO RECOVER FROM THE STALL AND SPIN.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

THE STUDENT PILOT WAS ON A SOLO-INSTRUCTIONAL FLIGHT IN THE PRACTICE AREA. AFTER SEVERAL CIRCUITS AROUND HIS GIRLFRIEND'S HOUSE (INSIDE THE PRACTICE AREA), HE SET UP FOR A POWER-OFF STALL. ACCORDING TO WITNESSES, HE BEGAN THE STALL MANEUVER AT ABOUT 300 FEET AGL. A VIDEO TAPE ACCOUNT OF THE ACCIDENT REVEALS THAT THE AIRPLANE STALLED, THE THROTTLE WAS ADVANCED, AND THE AIRPLANE ENTERED A LEFT-HAND SPIN. ABOUT ONE TURN OF THE SPIN WAS COMPLETED WHEN THE AIRPLANE IMPACTED TERRAIN IN A STEEP, NOSE LOW ATTITUDE. ANALYSIS OF THE VIDEO REVEALED THAT THE ONLY FLIGHT CONTROL INPUT WAS FULL UP ELEVATOR, WHICH WAS APPLIED THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE SEQUENCE. THE STUDENT'S LOGBOOK INDICATED THAT TAUGHT HIM TO PERFORM ALL AIRWORK PRACTICE AT 3,000 FT MSL (ABOUT 2,500 FT AGL). THE STUDENT'S LOGBOOK INDICATED THAT STALLS HAD BEEN PRACTICED ON AT LEAST NINE PREVIOUS FLIGHTS (THREE SOLO FLIGHTS).

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.