Cessna 172S N2461N

Summary

On 27 February 2017 at about 14:41 local time, a Cessna 172S registered N2461N, operated by McAir Aviation, LLC, was involved in an accident near Berthoud, Colorado, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

27 February 2017 at 14:41

Classification

Accident

Location

Berthoud, Colorado, United States

Coordinates

40.2672, -105.1542

Aircraft

Cessna 172S

Registration

N2461N

Category

Airplane

Year built

2005

Engines

1

Operator

McAir Aviation, LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Bloomfield → Bloomfield

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN17FA111

2 people died.

The failure of the pilots to apply prompt and/or correct flight control inputs to adequately recover from the intentional aerodynamic spin.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor and the commercial pilot receiving instruction were conducting a local training flight to practice aerodynamic spins. A review of air traffic control radar track data established that the airplane entered two aerodynamic spins during the flight. The first aerodynamic spin began at 10,300 ft mean sea level (msl), and the airplane descended about 1,000 ft before it recovered into a climb. The airplane then made a series of climbing turns until reaching 10,800 ft msl where it entered a second aerodynamic spin. The airplane did not recover from the second spin before it descended below available radar coverage at 6,800 ft msl (about 1,700 ft above the ground). Multiple witnesses reported seeing the airplane descending in a nose-down spin. One witness stated that the airplane completed about 5 turns in the spin before it descended behind a tree line into a reservoir. The airplane's Pilot Operating Handbook specified that at least 1,000 ft of altitude loss should be expected for a one-turn spin and recovery and that a six-turn spin and recovery may require more than twice that altitude loss because the airplane can develop a rapid rate of rotation and a steep nose-down pitch attitude. A postaccident examination revealed no evidence of a mechanical malfunction or failure that would have precluded normal operation during the flight. Additionally, the examination did not identify any foreign object debris that would have limited full movement of the flight controls during the flight, and the airplane's weight and balance were within the specified limits to conduct aerodynamic spins. It is likely that the pilots did not apply prompt and/or correct flight control inputs to adequately recover from the intentional aerodynamic spin.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.