- Date
- July 18, 2002, 13:45 local (19:45 UTC)
- Place
- Grants, NM
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N8067SCessna 150F
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 18, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20020718021969A
- Case key
- 55279
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 preflight preparation, and his failure to maintain airspeed which resulted in an inadvertent stall. Contributing factors were the high density altitude conditions, the terrain barrier (berm).
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The pilot stated that he climbed approximately 350 feet and made one circle to climb to altitude. The airplane was having difficulty climbing. As he executed a shallow turn back toward the airport, the pilot had difficulty maintaining altitude. He was considering an off-field landing, but realized there was a soil berm in his flight path. The pilot "eased" the control column back to clear the berm, and the airplane stalled. The airplane then struck the ground, bending both wing tips up, and bending both the engine mount and firewall. The density altitude was calculated to be 9,322 feet. The service ceiling of the airplane was12,650 feet.
Factual narrative
On July 18, 2002, at approximately 1345 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 150F, N8067S, was substantially damaged when it struck terrain while attempting to return to the airport immediately after takeoff from Grants-Milan Municipal Airport, Grants, New Mexico. The private pilot, the sole occupant on board, was not injured. The pilot was operating the airplane under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal cross-country flight which was originating at the time of the accident. The pilot had not filed a flight plan; he said his next planned stop was Moriarty, New Mexico.
The pilot stated that he climbed approximately 350 feet and made one circle to climb to altitude. The airplane was having difficulty climbing. As he executed a shallow turn back toward the airport, the airplane had difficulty maintaining altitude. He was considering an off-field landing, but realized there was a soil berm in his flight path. The pilot "eased" the control column back to clear the berm, and the airplane stalled. The airplane then struck the ground, bending both wing tips up, and bending both the engine mount and firewall.
The density altitude was calculated to be 9,322 feet.
The airplane's POH (Pilot's Operating Handbook) states that the service ceiling of this aircraft was 12,650 feet.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8067S
- Reported as
- Cessna 150F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15061667
- Airframe hours
- 2,340.5
- Engine
- Continental O-200A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Sherwin Wallick
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 2, 2002 · 52.2 hours before
- Departed
- GNT · Grants, NM
- Destination
- OEO · Moriarty, NM
- Airport
- GNT · Grants - Milan Municipal
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
- 70
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- September 14, 2000
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 713 total · 170 in this make and model · 713 as pilot in command · 74 in the last 90 days · 38 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 310° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.20 inHg
- Observed at
- GNT, 1 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 7, 2003, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 345 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.