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ERA15CA229

2015-05-22 · Lebanon, Tennessee, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport M54

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The non-certificated pilot's failure to maintain airspeed during takeoff, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall, uncontrolled descent, and collision with terrain. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's lack of training and flight experience in the accident airplane.

Factual narrative

The non-certificated pilot stated that when he took off in his airplane, it began to turn to the left. He was unable to stop the turn and the airplane stalled and impacted the ground. The pilot said that he just purchased the airplane and this was his first flight. He had not received any training in the airplane prior to the flight and had not received any recent flight instruction in any aircraft. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no pre-mishap mechanical discrepancies that would have precluded normal operation. The non-certificated pilot stated that when he took off in his airplane, it began to turn to the left.  He was unable to stop the turn and the airplane stalled and impacted the ground. The pilot said that he just purchased the airplane and this was his first flight. He had not received any training in the airplane prior to the flight and had not received any recent flight instruction in any aircraft. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no pre-mishap mechanical discrepancies that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
  • C Personnel issues-Experience/knowledge-Experience/qualifications-Qualification/certification-Pilot - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Airspeed-Not attained/maintained - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2015_ERA15CA229.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (stall). All research papers