| Crash location | 36.340000°N, 119.657222°W
Reported location is a long distance from the NTSB's reported nearest city. This often means that the location has a typo, or is incorrect. |
| Nearest city | Selma, CA
36.570784°N, 119.612077°W 16.1 miles away |
| Tail number | N49153 |
|---|---|
| Accident date | 01 Aug 2015 |
| Aircraft type | TAYLORCRAFT 12-m |
| Additional details: | None |
On August 1, 2015, about 1030 Pacific daylight time, a Taylorcraft 12-m, N49153, experienced a runway excursion at the Selma Airport, Selma, California. The pilot was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. The private pilot under instruction (PUI) and the certified flight instructor (CFI) both received minor injuries. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings and the engine mount. The local instructional flight departed about 0900. Visual meteorological conditions (VMC) prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed.
The pilot flew south of the airport after departure to practice basic maneuvers, and then returned to the airport to practice takeoffs and landings. Seven to eight landings to a full stop were successfully completed. On the last takeoff, the airplane lifted off, but would not climb above 5 feet. It settled back to the ground about 3/4 down the runway, lifted off again to a few feet, and then touched down again before hitting an embankment. The airplane bounced over a canal, and crashed into a vineyard about 45 feet from the runway.
The pilot reported that it was hot and humid, the wind conditions were variable, and the airplane was close to maximum gross weight. He stated that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failure with the airplane.
The flight instructor stated that the last takeoff (6th) initially seemed like the previous ones. Power addition was the same; the tail came up a bit slower, but not at an abnormal rate. At liftoff, the pitch attitude was a bit higher than the previous takeoffs. The airplane did not seem to be climbing, so he adjusted his position to see out the front windscreen. As he did this, the airplane bounced. As the airplane went airborne again, he felt that it was not producing sufficient lift to fly. He determined that there was insufficient runway to set the airplane down and stop before going into a deep drainage ditch that was perpendicular to the end of the runway. He held the throttle in the full power position to insure that the PUI didn't try to abort the takeoff, maintained wings level, and lowered the nose as much as possible. He maintained that attitude until the airplane cleared the ditch, and touched down in the vineyard. It contacted the ground in a level attitude, turned sharply 90 degrees, and stopped in about 30 feet.
The pilot receiving instruction's use of an excessive pitch attitude during takeoff with the airplane near its maximum gross weight in hot and humid conditions, which degraded the airplane’s climb performance and resulted in a collision with obstacles during an off-airport landing. Contributing to the accident was the flight instructor's delayed remedial action.