Van's RV-7A | N425DG

The DTSB determines the Probable Cause of this accident to be Pilot Error, in that the accident pilot departed from runway 29 and reached approximately 400 feet above the runway surface and then initiated an aggressive right turn due to an engine abnormal of some kind. During the right turn the accident aircraft was stalled and the right wing lost all lift, and the accident aircraft impacted nearly vertical after completing only one half of the impossible turn. The area beyond the departure end of the runway comprised a golf course and open fields that would have been favorable for a straight-ahead, forced landing. The pilot’s decision to turn back toward the runway at low altitude and his subsequent simultaneous loss of DMMS and exceedance of 30 degrees angle of bank at the same time, resulted in a an aerodynamic stall/spin and a U-FIT loss of control. The DTSB determines the Probable Cause of this accident to be the accident pilot’s decision to attempt the impossible turn back to the airport, which resulted in a non recoverable aerodynamic stall/spin and impact with terrain.

The DTSB recommends that all pilots of all aircraft rehearse and condition themselves for both ROTOT and LOTOT AQP scenarios, and to be fully ready and prepared to land wings level straight ahead during these surprise type occurrences.