DFW08FA190 · Piper PA-22
Piper PA-22 · Accident: loss of control in flight during initial climb
From Kemp, TX to 9F( · Fort Worth, TX
Event
- NTSB case
- DFW08FA190
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 3 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Piper PA-22
- Aircraft type
- Piper PA-22
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N9980D
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Kemp, TXTo 9F( · Fort Worth, TX
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Initial climb
- Defining eventThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Loss of control in flight
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Destroyed
Cause areas
- Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability
- Personnel issues › Task performance
Approximate · Coordinates from the NTSB case API, which marks them as estimated or does not say; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
Shortly after takeoff, the airplane was observed making a left turn toward the downwind leg. As it made the turn, the airplane’s left wing dropped and the airplane descended into a steep dive, consistent with an aerodynamic stall. The airplane impacted the ground in an open lot. The witness also reported that the engine sound did not change during the flight/accident sequence. An on-site examination revealed that propeller markings and ground scars were consistent with the engine producing power at impact. Additionally, the damage to the airplane was consistent with ground impact following an aerodynamic stall and loss of control. Flight control cable continuity was established. The elevator pitch trim was found in the "neutral" position and the flaps were in the retracted position. No preimpact mechanical anomalies were found after the wreckage examination. Witnesses reported the weather at the time of the accident was "hot", with winds blowing 5-10 knots, with gusts "maybe as high as 20 knots." The density altitude was calculated to be about 2,927 feet. Using an approximation of the weights of the 3 occupants and fuel, the airplane was estimated to be near its maximum take-off limit at the time of the accident flight. These aspects require critical attention to airspeed in order to maintain maneuvering flight.
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed while maneuvering, which led to an aerodynamic stall and subsequent loss of control.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record DFW08FA190
- Event ID
- 20080721X01092
- Case number
- DFW08FA190
- Dataset
- full-current
- Source SHA-256
- 5cf380f0061817c0331a6b2d8cc7e0ee3a79bea469a1001dc5c10e56f35f5ab3
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status, coordinates. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 48000a9106871c343437ade526db042500e863a020520bccfe4f0fcee1a02f94; retrieved 2026-09-13T19:17:26.483Z.