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NTSB Identification: ERA16FA165
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Tuesday, April 19, 2016 in Stevensville, MD
Probable Cause Approval Date: 05/09/2018
Aircraft: VANS RV12, registration: N276VA
Injuries: 2 Fatal.

NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

The airline transport pilot of the light sport airplane was approaching the airport for landing in gusty front quartering crosswind conditions. Witnesses observed the airplane on final approach between 50 and 75 ft above ground level. The airplane's nose pitched up, followed by a roll to the right. The airplane then entered a nose-down attitude and descended to ground contact, impacting level terrain about 750 ft from the runway and slightly left of the extended runway centerline. Examination of the wreckage did not reveal any preimpact mechanical malfunctions that would have precluded normal operation.

Before the accident flight, the pilot had about 2.4 hours of experience in the accident airplane make and model but had been signed off to fly the airplane by an instructor. Witness observations of the final moments of flight are consistent with an aerodynamic stall. It is likely that the pilot failed to compensate for the gusty crosswind and turbulent conditions during the approach for landing, which resulted in an exceedance of the airplane's critical angle of attack, aerodynamic stall, and subsequent loss of control.


The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
  • The pilot's failure to maintain airplane control during approach for landing in gusting crosswind conditions, which resulted in an exceedance of the airplane's critical angle of attack and a subsequent aerodynamic stall.



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