- Date
- June 27, 2020, 09:11 local (14:11 UTC)
- Place
- Davenport, IA
- Injuries
- 2 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N18873Beech 23
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Aerodynamic stall/spin
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA Des Moines FSDO
- FAA report
- 20200627005819A
- Case key
- 101509
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to properly configure the airplane for takeoff, which resulted in the exceedance of the airplane's critical angle of attack, an aerodynamic stall, and subsequent impact with terrain.
Findings · 4
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot was taking off and had begun to climb out when, the airplane's critical angle of attack was exceeded, an aerodynamic stall occurred, and the airplane impacted terrain. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. A postaccident examination of the airframe by Federal Aviation Administration aviation safety inspectors found the trim was configured in a nose up setting for a landing profile. The pilot reported there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe and engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot was taking off and had begun to climb out when the airplane's right wing dropped. The pilot responded by pushing the airplane's nose over but the wing struck the runway and the airplane subsequently impacted terrain causing substantial damage to the fuselage. A postaccident examination of the airframe by Federal Aviation Administration aviation safety inspectors found the airplane's elevator trim was configured in a nose up setting for a landing profile. The pilot reported there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe and engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N18873
- Reported as
- Beech 23 (C23)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- M-1959
- Built
- 1977
- Airframe hours
- 3,426
- Engine
- Lycoming Engines O-360-A4K, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 5, 2020
- Departed
- DVN · Davenport, IA
- Destination
- DLL · Baraboo, WI
- Airport
- DVN · Davenport Muni, runway 03, 4,001 × 100 ft, concrete
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, Handheld GPS, ADS-B
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 51
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 20, 2020
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- None
- Flight hours
- 145 total · 61 in this make and model · 32 as pilot in command · 45 in the last 90 days · 34 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.86 inHg
- Observed at
- KDVN
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 5, 2020, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 686 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.