Cessna T240 N433CS

Summary

On 14 October 2018 at about 01:45 local time, a Cessna T240 registered N433CS was involved in an accident near Payson, Arizona, 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

14 October 2018 at 01:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Payson, Arizona, United States

Nearest airport

Payson (PAN)

Coordinates

34.2617, -111.3106

Aircraft

Cessna T240

Registration

N433CS

Category

Airplane

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Glendale → Payson

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Dusk

NTSB number

WPR19FA007

2 people died.

The pilot's exceedance of the airplane's critical angle of attack while maneuvering for landing, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall/spin and a subsequent loss of control.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was approaching the airport for landing around dusk in visual meteorological conditions at the conclusion of a cross-country flight. Radar data depicted the airplane at 589 ft above ground level on a downwind leg for the runway at a groundspeed of 108 knots. The airplane then entered a right turn; however, rather than aligning with the runway on a final approach leg, the airplane continued the turn through 360° and continued on an extended downwind before entering another right turn. The airplane’s altitude and groundspeed was fluctuating throughout these maneuvers. Radar contact was lost near the accident site about 1 nautical mile from the end of the runway. The airplane impacted the ground in a vertical, nose-down attitude consistent with an aerodynamic stall/spin. Damage signatures indicated that the engine was producing power at the time of the accident, and examination of the airframe and engine revealed no anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. Analysis of the radar data revealed that the radius of the airplane's final turn was about 700 ft, which would have required a bank angle of about 50° based on the airplane's approximate speed. The data are consistent with the pilot's failure to compensate for the increased load factor during the turn and a subsequent exceedance of the airplane's critical angle of attack, which resulted in a stall/spin from which the pilot was unable to recover given the airplane's low altitude.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.