N170ED – CESSNA 170B – 2012-05-19 NTSB Accident Report

On May 19, 2012, a Cessna 170B (N170ED) was involved in an incident near Winterville, NC. All 2 people aboard were uninjured. The aircraft sustained substantial damage.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause of this incident to be: The pilot's excessive bank at low altitude, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall.

The pilot reported that he was participating in a "bean bag drop" competition at the airfield. He was flying from the left seat while his right-seat passenger was to drop the bean bag onto the target. He overflew the runway at 70 feet above the ground and banked right to see where the bean bag landed. There was a left-to-right crosswind that pushed him further right than anticipated. As he approached tall trees at the edge of the airfield, he banked further right to avoid them. The airplane stalled and continued to sink until it collided with the ground. Structural damage to the fuselage and wings resulted. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane during the accident sequence.

This incident is documented in NTSB report ERA12CA344. AviatorDB cross-references NTSB investigation data with FAA registry records to provide comprehensive safety information for aircraft N170ED.