Ottawa Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Ottawa, Illinois 61350
Sunday, September 20, 1992 18:15 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

SHORTLY AFTER TAKEOFF, THE AIRPLANE WAS OBSERVED TURNING AS IF TO RETURN FOR LANDING. A WITNESS REPORTED OBSERVING IT MANEUVERING TO LINE UP FOR A LANDING ON THE RUNWAY OPPOSITE ITS TAKEOFF RUNWAY. THE WITNESS STATED HE OBSERVED THE AIRPLANE WINGS LEVEL AND MOVING SIDEWAYS. THE AIRPLANE THEN STALLED AND SPUN TO THE GROUND. ON-SCENE INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT THE LANDING FLAPS WERE FULLY EXTENDED. THE AIRPLANE WAS EQUIPPED WITH AN FAA-APPROVED SHORT TAKEOFF OR LANDING (STOL) WING MODIFICATION. THE HEIGHT OF THE WING FLOW FENCES WERE FOUND TO BE INCORRECT ACCORDING TO THE STC DRAWINGS. AN FAA TEST PILOT STATED THAT HE HAD REQUIRED THAT THE FLOW FENCES BE LOWERED DUE TO AERODYNAMIC INSTABILITIES WITH FENCES TOO HIGH. OTHER SIMILAR AIRPLANES WERE FOUND WITH THE WING FLOW FENCES TOO HIGH. INVESTIGATION INTO THE PILOT'S FLYING HABITS REVEALED THAT HE OFTEN PERFORMED WING'S LEVEL RUDDER TURNS. THE INVESTIGATION ALSO REVEALED A PARTIAL MAGNETO FAILURE WHICH WOULD HAVE RESULTED IN A PARTIAL LOSS OF ENGINE POWER.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

PILOT DID NOT MAINTAIN A PROPER AIRSPEED WHICH LED TO AN INADVERTENT STALL/SPIN AT A LOW ALTITUDE WHERE THE PILOT COULD NOT PERFORM A RECOVERY.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/20/1992
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1815
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City OTTAWA
Event State ILLINOIS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 61350
Event Date Year 1992
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport OTTAWA
Event Location Nearest Airport ID C13
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 618
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1900 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 35
Weather Observation Facility ID ARR
Elevation of weather observation facility 706
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 34
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 5000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 1500
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 2
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 14
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 130
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 14
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal 1
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 831
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Sep 20 1992 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1900
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 48330
Date of most recent change to record Dec 11 2000 3:18PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N4591P
NTSB Number CHI92FA282
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name CESSNA
Aircraft Model 152
Aircraft Series Identifier 152
Aircraft Serial Number 15284775
Certified Max Gross Weight 1670
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Sep 2 1992 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 18
Airframe Hours 4207
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name LEGENDS, R.E. & J.K. BROWN
Aircraft Owner Street Address P.O. BOX 1164
Aircraft Owner City POPLAR BLUFF
Aircraft Owner State MO
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 63901
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name LEGENDS, R.E. & J.K. BROWN
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address P.O. BOX 1164
Operator City POPLAR BLUFF
Operator State MO
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 63901
Operator Code
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code C13
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1813
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code STL
Destination City ST. LOUIS
Destination State MO
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:35AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 5
Runway Length 3125
Runway Width 50
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --