CHI96LA019

Factual narrative

On October 25, 1995, at 1605 central daylight time (cdt), a Cessna 150M, N63566, piloted by a private pilot, sustained substantial damage when after takeoff the airplane stalled and subsequently impacted the terrain. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The flight was operated under 14 CFR Part 91. A flight plan was not on file. The pilot reported no injuries. The airplane was on a local flight which took off from Centralia, Illinois, at 1556 cdt. In his written statement, the pilot reported landing long on runway 09, a grass runway. Realizing that he did not have enough runway remaining to come to a safe stop, the pilot elected to "take off again." The airplane bounced back into the air when it crossed the slightly-raised intersection of runway 18-36. "There was a cornfield ahead." In an attempt to avoid the cornfield, the pilot added full power and retracted the flaps to 20 degrees. He believed he did not have enough altitude to avoid the cornfield, so the pilot "increased pitch and retracted the remaining flaps." "The aircraft stalled, the left wing dropped," and the airplane impacted in the cornfield. The procedure for a balked landing (go-around) climb, taken from the Cessna 150M Pilot's Operating Handbook, is to reduce the wing flap setting "to 20 degrees immediately after full power is applied. Upon reaching a safe airspeed, flaps should be slowly retracted to the full up position." The FAA inspector who examined the wreckage reported no mechanical anomalies with the airplane which could have contributed to the accident. The pilot is a foreign national from India. He obtained his private pilot's certificate in the United States on September 25, 1995. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) records of the pilot's private pilot certificate number currently indicate "pending." THE PILOT REPORTED LANDING LONG. REALIZING THAT HE DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH RUNWAY REMAINING TO COME TO A SAFE STOP, HE ATTEMPTED A GO-AROUND. TO AVOID THE CORNFIELD AHEAD OF HIM, THE PILOT ADDED FULL POWER AND RETRACTED THE FLAPS TO 20 DEGREES. BELIEVING HE STILL DID NOT HAVING ENOUGH ALTITUDE TO AVOID THE CORNFIELD, THE PILOT 'INCREASED PITCH AND RETRACTED THE REMAINING FLAPS.' 'THE AIRCRAFT STALLED' AND IMPACTED IN THE CORNFIELD. THE PROCEDURE FOR A GO-AROUND IN THIS AIRPLANE, TAKEN FROM THE PILOT'S OPERATING HANDBOOK, READS, 'UPON REACHING A SAFE AIRSPEED, FLAPS SHOULD BE SLOWLY RETRACTED TO THE FULL UP POSITION.' EXAMINATION OF THE WRECKAGE INDICATED NO MECHANICAL ANOMALIES WITH THE AIRPLANE WHICH COULD HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE ACCIDENT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12