Cessna 162 N30283

Summary

On 13 April 2015 at about 22:00 local time, a Cessna 162 registered N30283, operated by SMC Aviation Inc, was involved in an accident near Shelter Island, New York, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

13 April 2015 at 22:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Shelter Island, New York, United States

Nearest airport

Klenawicus Airfield (PVT)

Coordinates

41.0558, -72.3608

Aircraft

Cessna 162

Registration

N30283

Category

Airplane

Year built

2011

Engines

1

Operator

SMC Aviation Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Shelter Island → Farmingdale

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA15LA184

1 person was seriously injured.

The pilot's failure to attain adequate airspeed after takeoff and his exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle-of-attack during the initial climb, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall at too low an altitude to recover.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that he conducted a preflight inspection, including a flight control check, and taxied the airplane to the runway for takeoff. After he took off from the turf runway, the light-sport airplane immediately began banking right, and the right aileron did not respond to control inputs. The airplane subsequently impacted trees and terrain before coming to rest near the runway. Witness reports and photographs indicated that the airplane became airborne about midfield of the 1,400-ft-long runway and corroborated that the airplane then banked right before impacting terrain. Examination of the airframe revealed no evidence of preaccident malfunction or failure, and flight control continuity was confirmed. During an engine test run, the engine started and operated normally. Although the right aileron control cable located behind the cockpit instrument panel was found separated, the cable exhibited tensile overload signatures consistent with impact damage. Further, given that the pilot reported that he checked the flight controls before departure, the flight control cable likely fractured due to tensile overload during impact. Based on the evidence indicating that the airplane immediately banked right after takeoff and then descended to impact, it is likely that the pilot did not maintain adequate airspeed and exceeded the airplane's critical angle-of-attack, which resulted in in an aerodynamic stall.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.