# Incident 20191204016969I: Cessna 150L, Poplar Bluff, MO, December 4, 2019

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: December 4, 2019, 11:10 local time
- Place: Poplar Bluff, MO
- Damage: No damage
- Phase of flight: Climb
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 36.7633° N, 90.4140° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs: center of Poplar Bluff, MO, within about 6 miles (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=36.7633&lon=-90.4140&mi=10
- Aircraft: N148MA, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N148MA-2020-01-17) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Cessna 150L (registry code 2071826, https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-150l) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Continental 0-200 series (registry code 17020, https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-0-200-series) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: CESSNA 150L
- Reported engine: CONT MOTOR 0-200 SERIES
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Other injuries: 0
- Pilot certificates: Commercial pilot
- Pilot flight hours: 1,143 total, 145 in this make and model, 30 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20191204016969I

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

ON DECEMBER 4TH 2019 THE AIRCRAFT (N148MA) DEPARTED POPLAR BLUFF, MO (KPOF) AT APPROXIMATELY 1100HRS LOCAL TIME IN ROUTE TO BRANSON, MO (KPLK). ONCE THE AIRCRAFT LIFTED OFF, THE PILOT BEGAN TURNING WEST. WHILE CLIMBING, HE REALIZED THAT THE AIRCRAFT REQUIRED ADDITIONAL FORCE TO KEEP FROM PITCHING UP EXCESSIVELY. HE ATTEMPTED TO REMEDY THE EXCESSIVE PITCH USING ELEVATOR TRIM BUT WAS UNSUCCESSFUL AS IT SEEMED TO HAVE NO EFFECT. KNOWING THAT THERE WAS A POSSIBLE TRIM ISSUE, THE PILOT TURNED BACK TOWARDS KPOF. HE THEN NOTED THAT THE AIRCRAFT YOKE, AS WELL AS THE TAIL BEGAN TO SHAKE VIOLENTLY AND THE AIRCRAFT PITCHED NOSE DOWN INTO A NEGATIVE G DECENT. THE PILOT IMMEDIATELY REDUCED THROTTLE AND APPLIED 20 DEGREES OF FLAPS WHICH SLOWED THE RATE OF DECENT. HE CALLED UNICOM ADVISING OF THE AIRCRAFT CONTROL ISSUES AND HIS INTENTION TO RETURN TO KPOF. THE AIRCRAFT THEN BEGAN SHAKING THE YOKE AND TAIL SECTIONS AGAIN AND AGAIN PITCHING NOSE DOWN. THE PILOT APPLIED 40 DEGREES FLAPS AND RECOVERED THE AIRCRAFT APPROXIMATELY 100 FEET ABOVE GROUND LEVEL. GIVEN THE LOW ALTITUDE AND THE POSSIBILITY OF LOSING CONTROL OF THE AIRCRAFT, THE PILOT DECIDED TO CONTINUE THE DECENT AND LAND IN A PLOWED FIELD 2 MILES FROM THE AIRPORT.

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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