Bellanca 7ECA N55CW

Summary

On 27 January 2006 at about 14:26 local time, a Bellanca 7ECA registered N55CW was involved in an accident near Pontiac, Michigan, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

27 January 2006 at 14:26

Classification

Accident

Location

Pontiac, Michigan, United States

Nearest airport

Oakland-Pontiac (PTK)

Coordinates

42.6656, -83.4200

Aircraft

Bellanca 7ECA

Registration

N55CW

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Pontiac → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI06LA073

2 people died.

The excessive bank angle executed by the flight crew and their failure to maintain airspeed during the turn, which led to the inadvertent stall and subsequent impact with the ground. A factor was the low altitude.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane was destroyed when it impacted the ground while maneuvering for landing. After completing a touch and go landing on runway 27L, the pilot requested a full stop landing at which time the control tower operator offered to allow the airplane to land on a parallel runway in the opposite direction. Communications transcripts show that the pilot accepted this offer and was subsequently cleared for landing on runway 09L. The airplane impacted the ground off of the approach end of runway 09L. According to several witnesses the airplane had been performing takeoffs and landings prior to the accident. Witnesses reported that during preceding traffic patterns, the airplane was making steep bank turns that were not necessary for normal flight. Transcripts of communications show that the airplane was cleared for landing a total of 24 times during the 67 minute flight, yielding an average traffic pattern of less than 3 minutes between landings. No anomalies were found with respect to the airplane that could be determined to have existed prior to impact.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.