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DFW08CA011

2007-10-12 · McAllen, Texas, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport MFE

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed during the landing approach resulting in an inadvertent stall.

Factual narrative

The 104-hour student pilot was attempting a full-stop landing with the aircraft configured with 20 degrees of flaps and the throttle at idle. The pilot reported that after he flared for the landing, the aircraft pitched-up and began drifting to the left. The pilot responded by applying full-right rudder and retracting the flaps to 10 degrees. This is the last event the pilot can recall in the accident sequence. The airplane impacted the ground in a nose-low attitude, nosed-over and came to rest in the inverted position 150 feet from the left side of Runway 13. An examination of the airplane revealed the nose landing gear had been sheared off and structural damage was sustained to the nose cone, propeller, engine compartment, fuselage, left wing and tail section. The wind at the time of the mishap was reported from 090 degrees at 5 knots. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures prior to the mishap. The 104-hour student pilot was attempting a full-stop landing with the aircraft configured with 20 degrees of flaps and the throttle at idle. The pilot reported that after he flared for the landing, the aircraft pitched-up and began drifting to the left. The pilot responded by applying full-right rudder and retracting the flaps to 10 degrees. This is the last event the pilot can recall in the accident sequence. The airplane impacted the ground in a nose-low attitude, nosed-over and came to rest in the inverted position 150 feet from the left side of Runway 13. An examination of the airplane revealed the nose landing gear had been sheared off and structural damage was sustained to the nose cone, propeller, engine compartment, fuselage, left wing and tail section. The wind at the time of the mishap was reported from 090 degrees at 5 knots. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures prior to the mishap. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2007_DFW08CA011.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Related research

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