Cessna 150F N102DK

Summary

On 13 June 2016 at about 13:57 local time, a Cessna 150F registered N102DK was involved in an accident near Rockville, Indiana, 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

13 June 2016 at 13:57

Classification

Accident

Location

Rockville, Indiana, United States

Nearest airport

Butler Fld (IN46)

Coordinates

39.7389, -87.2194

Aircraft

Cessna 150F

Registration

N102DK

Category

Airplane

Year built

1966

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Rockville → Indianapolis

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN16FA216

2 people died.

The pilot's use of an improper soft-field takeoff procedure, which resulted in the airplane having insufficient airspeed to climb out of ground effect and its subsequent impact with trees near the departure end of the runway.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot and passenger were departing on a personal, cross-country flight from a grass runway. A witness saw the airplane lift off from the 2,081-ft-long- runway near midfield with a high pitch attitude, but he did not see the subsequent climbout or accident. The airplane impacted tall trees about 1,100 ft past the departure end of the runway. Given the witness's statement, the pilot likely did not lower the airplane's nose to accelerate while in ground effect, as recommended by the Federal Aviation Administration for a soft-field takeoff. Instead, the pilot likely attempted to climb the airplane at too high of a pitch angle and too low of an airspeed during the soft-field takeoff. Further, the airplane was near or above its maximum gross takeoff weight. The combination of these factors led to the airplane climbing out at an insufficient airspeed and its subsequent inability to adequately climb out of ground effect and clear the trees off the departure end of the runway. In addition, a light tailwind likely existed during the climb, which the pilot may not have noticed due to trees surrounding the runway and windsock.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.