NTSB CAROL · Event
Event DCA91MA021
Registry · N565PC
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
CIRRUS DESIGN SF50
Year of manufacture
2020
Engine
WILLIAMS FJ33-5A
Seats / Engines
7 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
20201209
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A73AC5
Registrant of record
CAPITAL AVIATION LLC
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
THE FAILURE OF THE FLIGHTCREW TO DETECT AND REMOVE ICE CONTAMINATION ON THE AIRPLANE'S WINGS, WHICH WAS LARGELY A RESULT OF A LACK OF APPROPRIATE RESPONSE BY THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, DOUGLAS AIRCRAFT COMPANY, AND RYAN INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES TO THE KNOWN CRITICAL EFFECT THAT A MINUTE AMOUNT OF CONTAMINATION HAS ON THE STALL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DC-9 SERIES 10 AIRPLANE. THE ICE CONTAMINATION LED TO WING STALL AND LOSS OF CONTROL DURING THE ATTEMPTED TAKEOFF. (NTSB REPORT AAR-91/09)
Factual narrative
THE FLIGHT HAD FLOWN THROUGH WEATHER CONDUCIVE TO AIRFRAME ICE ABOUT 40 MIN PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT DURING DESCENT INTO CLEVELAND. DURING THE 35-MINUTE TURNAROUND AT CLEVELAND THE CREW DID NOT EXIT THE AIRPLANE TO CONDUCT AN EXTERIOR PREFLIGHT INSPECTION TO VERIFY THAT THE WINGS WERE FREE OF ICE CONTAMINATION. IT WAS SNOWING WHILE THEY WERE ON THE GROUND. THE AIRPLANE STALLED AND ROLLED INTO THE GROUND IMMEDIATELY AFTER TAKEOFF. THERE WAS NO OPERATOR REQUIREMENT FOR THE PREFLIGHT. THE FLIGHT HAD NOT BEEN GIVEN TRAINING REGARDING THE EFFECTS OF WING CONTAMINATION ON THE AIRPLANE. THE FAA AND THE MANUFACTURER HAVE BEEN AWARE FOR SEVERAL YEARS OF THE PROPENSITY OF THE DC-9 SERIES 10 TO THE LOSS OF CONTROL CAUSED BY WING CONTAMINATION, BUT NEITHER OF THEM TOOK POSITIVE ACTION TO INCLUDE RELATED INFORMATION IN THE APPROVED AIRPLANE FLIGHT MANUAL. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1991_DCA91MA021.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (stall, loss of control). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- Semantic Scholar 2016 · Article (Interacción)
Trajectory Recovery System: Angle of Attack Guidance for Inflight Loss of Control
This paper describes the design and development of an ecological display to aid pilots in the recovery of an In-Flight Loss of Control event due to a Stall (ILOC-S).
- NTSB Aircraft Accident Reports 2010 · Accident report
Loss of Control on Approach — Colgan Air Flight 3407
Colgan Air 3407 / Continental Connection (Q400) Buffalo NY, February 12, 2009 — 50 fatalities. Definitive investigation of the Colgan 3407 stall-stick-pusher crash on approach to Buffalo.
- NASA NTRS 2026 · Conference Paper
Computational Analysis of Steady State Aerodynamics of Transonic Truss-Braced Wing Configuration in Deep Stall
This study presents a computational investigation of steady state aerodynamics of the Subsonic Ultra-Green Aircraft Research (SUGAR) Transonic Truss-Braced Wing (TTBW) configuration over a wide range …
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2025 · Journal article (JAAER)
A Scoping Review of Aviation Loss of Control Inflight Research
Loss of control – inflight (LOC-I) contributes to aircraft accidents at unacceptably high rates. Significant industry efforts and research have aimed to improve LOC-I prevention, detection, and recove…
- arXiv 2025 · arXiv preprint
Quadratic Programming Approach to Flight Envelope Protection Using Control Barrier Functions
Ensuring the safe operation of aerospace systems within their prescribed flight envelope is a fundamental requirement for modern flight control systems.
- SKYbrary (Eurocontrol) 2024 · SKYbrary article
Loss of Control In-Flight (LOC-I) — SKYbrary Knowledge Base
SKYbrary comprehensive knowledge-base entry on Loss of Control In-Flight — definitions, contributing factors, accident case studies (Air France 447, Colgan 3407), and prevention strategies.
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗