30 Jan 2011: KOLB AIRCRAFT INC KOLB MARK III — Ronald McKinney

30 Jan 2011: KOLB AIRCRAFT INC KOLB MARK III — Ronald McKinney

No fatalities • Rutherfordton, NC, United States

Probable cause

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed while maneuvering at low altitude resulting in a stall/spin and ground impact.

— NTSB Determination

Accident narrative

The pilot reported that he was practicing takeoffs and landings at his home airport. As he made a left turn over a hangar, a crosswind increased, and the airplane banked too steeply. The left wing subsequently stalled and the airplane was too low for the pilot to recover, before it impacted the ground near a hangar. A witness stated that shortly after takeoff, the accident airplane returned and "buzzed" the airport. The pilot then attempted to "buzz" his own restaurant, when the airplane stalled and spun at low altitude. During the stall, the witness heard the engine noise increase to full power. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation. The recorded weather at the accident airport, about the time of the accident, included clear skies and calm wind.

Contributing factors

  • cause Pilot
  • cause Airspeed — Not attained/maintained
  • cause Pilot

Conditions

Weather
VMC, vis 10sm

Loading the flight search…

What you can do on Flight Finder

  • Search flights between any two airports with live fares.
  • By aircraft — pick a plane model (e.g. Boeing 787, Airbus A350) and see every route it flies from your origin.
  • Route map — click any airport worldwide to explore its destinations, or draw a radius to find nearby airports.
  • Global aviation safety — aviation accident database, 5,200+ records since 1980, with map and rankings by aircraft and operator.
  • NTSB safety feed — recent U.S. aviation accidents and incidents from the official NTSB CAROL database, updated daily.

Frequently asked questions

How do I search flights by aircraft type on FlightFinder?

Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.

Which aircraft types can I filter by?

We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.

Is FlightFinder free to use?

Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.

Where does the route data come from?

Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.