Fairbanks International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Fairbanks, Alaska 99701
Saturday, April 21, 2012 16:30 AKD

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The student pilot departed on a solo local area practice flight. He said that during the takeoff roll, he held forward pressure on the yoke to keep the nose wheel on the ground. At 50 mph, he let the nose wheel come off the ground, and the airplane rotated into a steep climb. He tried to push the nose down, but the stall warning horn sounded, and the airplane descended toward the ground. He said he did not reduce engine power, and he did not remember checking the elevator trim position before takeoff. Another student pilot who flew the airplane earlier, reported that he was with an instructor and that his flight was uneventful. He said there were no problems associated with the airplane’s controls. His last landing was a simulated engine out, and he utilized a lot of nose-up trim to maintain the best angle of glide. He said he does not routinely return the trim to neutral after a flight. An inspection of the airplane showed the trim was set close to the full nose-up position. It is likely that the pilot did not check the trim setting during the pretakeoff inspection, which would have been indicated in the pretakeoff checklist. No interference was found with the flight controls.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The student pilot did not control the airplane’s pitch attitude, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall during the takeoff initial climb. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s failure to use the pre-takeoff checklist.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/21/2012
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1630
Event Time Zone --
Event City Fairbanks
Event State ALASKA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 99701
Event Date Year 2012
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 644855N
Event Location Longitude 1475123W
Event Location Airport Fairbanks International
Event Location Nearest Airport ID PAFA
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 439
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Unknown
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling --
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 3
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator --
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 30208
NTSB Notification Source FAA Anchorage, ROC
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 4 2012 2:59PM
User who most recently changed record johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N7911F
NTSB Number ANC12LA031
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed Unknown
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name CESSNA
Aircraft Model 150F
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 15064011
Certified Max Gross Weight --
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
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 --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name MCINTYRE JON D
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City FAIRBANKS
Aircraft Owner State AK
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 99706
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name Zachary Sheldon
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Fairbanks
Operator State AK
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 99706
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
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 PAFA
Departure City Fairbanks
Departure State AK
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone ADT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code PAFA
Destination City Fairbanks
Destination State AK
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jul 27 2012 6:17PM
User who most recently changed record stam
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 20L
Runway Length 6500
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --