- Date
- June 15, 2023, 11:30 local (16:30 UTC)
- Place
- Sibley, IA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N23679Taylorcraft BC-65
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR pattern final: 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
- FAA-FSDO
- FAA report
- 20230615009669A
- Case key
- 192373
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 maintain adequate airspeed on final approach resulting in the airplane inadvertently exceeding the critical angle of attack and entering an inadvertent aerodynamic stall.
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 during an extended final approach, the “bottom fell out” and the airplane entered an aerodynamic stall. The pilot was unable to recover before the airplane touched down short of the runway. The left main landing gear collapsed during the hard landing, and the airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and right wing. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N23679
- Reported as
- Taylorcraft BC-65
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1413
- Built
- 1939
- Engine
- Continental A-65-8, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 15, 2023
- Departed
- OTG · Worthington, MN
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- ISB · Sibley, runway 17/35, 3,000 × 50 ft, concrete
- Equipment
- Onboard weather
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
- 71
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Sport pilot
- Last flight review
- April 10, 2023
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 511 total · 423 in this make and model · 500 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.75 inHg
- Observed at
- KSHL, 10 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KSHL 151635Z AUTO 24005KT 10SM CLR 29/11 A2975 RMK AO2=
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 17, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.0 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.