Cirrus SR20 N477TC

Summary

On 28 February 2016 at about 14:59 local time, a Cirrus SR20 registered N477TC was involved in an accident near Navasota, Texas, United States. 4 people were on board and 4 died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

28 February 2016 at 14:59

Classification

Accident

Location

Navasota, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Navasota Municipal Airport (60R)

Coordinates

30.3564, -96.1067

Aircraft

Cirrus SR20

Registration

N477TC

Category

Airplane

Year built

2003

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Navasota → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN16FA111

4 people died.

The flight instructor's delayed remedial action to prevent a stall at an altitude that was too low to recover. Contributing to the accident was the owner/non-certificated pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane, which resulted in an accelerated aerodynamic stall.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor and the airplane owner, who did not hold a pilot certificate, were practicing takeoffs and landings in the airplane at an uncontrolled airport. Based on logbook records, this was most likely an instructional flight and the owner was most likely flying the airplane. Air traffic control radar and primary flight display data showed that they had performed two touch-and-go landings followed by two full stop landings before the accident. Shortly after taking off following the second full stop landing, while climbing through 550 ft mean sea level (msl) at an indicated airspeed of about 92 knots, the airplane entered a left bank and began to decelerate. The airplane began to descend, and the airspeed subsequently decreased below 75 knots before it began to increase. The airplane reached a 61° left-wing-down attitude at an airspeed of about 79 knots before entering a rapid roll to the right, through an inverted position. At about the same time, the airplane began a rapid pitch down, reaching a 69° nose-down attitude. The airplane briefly recovered to nearly wings level but again began to pitch down until the final recorded data point, which showed the airplane in a 65° nose-down and 45° right-wing-down attitude, at 268 ft msl, and 89 knots indicated airspeed. The airplane impacted terrain about 0.43 miles from the departure end of the runway. Postaccident examination of the airplane did not reveal any mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have prevented normal operation. Calculations based on the airplane's weight at the time of the accident indicated that, at 1g with flaps up, the aerodynamic stall speed would have been 75 to 78 knots calibrated airspeed. The stall speed in a 60° turn (2 g) would have been 105 to 109 knots. Therefore, it is likely that the combination of a steep left bank and low airspeed resulted in an accelerated aerodynamic stall.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.