- Date
- September 12, 2021, 13:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Ozark, AR
- Injuries
- 2 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N2998DCessna 170B
- Defining event
- Initial climb: Loss of control in flight
- 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
- Federal Aviation Administration, Little Rock FSDO
- FAA report
- 20210912021949A
- Case key
- 103844
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 inadequate takeoff performance planning that resulted in a climb gradient too low to clear trees on departure, and his failure to maintain aircraft control that resulted in an aerodynamic stall and impact with terrain.
Findings · 3
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 reported that while climbing after takeoff during a personal flight with 20o flaps and an airspeed 60 kts, he noticed that the climb seemed very slow. As the airplane approached a tree line, the pilot, thinking the airplane would not clear the trees, reduced the flap setting to 10o to increase airspeed. When the pilot realized that the airplane would not clear the trees, he initiated a 180o turn, with the intent to land on another runway at the departure airport. During the turn, the airplane entered an aerodynamic stall and subsequently impacted terrain. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the forward fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot reported that the airplane flight manual stated that the climb speed should be 62 knots with a 20o flap setting.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2998D
- Reported as
- Cessna 170B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 26941
- Airframe hours
- 2,375
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Elite Aircraft Sales LLC
- Registered owner
- Elite Aircraft Sales LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 16, 2021
- Destination
- SRC · Searcy, AR
- Airport
- 51AR · Byrd's Backcountry Airstrip, runway 7, 2,500 × 30 ft, grass/turf
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
- 29
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- February 1, 2021
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 1,617 total · 184 in this make and model · 1,560 as pilot in command · 7 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 59 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.16 inHg
- Observed at
- FYV, 29 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 7, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.8 MB 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.