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GAA19CA439

2019-06-30 · Manteo, North Carolina, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport MQI

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed and his exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that, during take off initial climb, he "started to feel the airspeed drop," he corrected by using, "nose down to gain airspeed." The airspeed continued to drop, the airplane aerodynamically stalled, and subsequently, collided with the ground. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, both wings, horizontal stabilizer and the elevator. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The airport's automated weather observation station reported that, about the time of the accident, the wind was from 290° at 7 knots, gusting to 18 knots. The airplane was taking off from runway 35. The pilot reported that, during initial climb, he "started to feel the airspeed drop" and that he attempted to regain airspeed by lowering the airplane's nose. The airspeed continued to drop, and the airplane aerodynamically stalled and subsequently impacted the ground. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, both wings, the horizontal stabilizer, and the elevator. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Angle of attack-Capability exceeded - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Airspeed-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2019_GAA19CA439.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Related research

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