Aftermath: High, Heavy and Slow

Monday, August 14, 2017 at 06:45 PM ET

Verified

A Cessna T310R making its final approach to Sierra Blanca Regional Airport (pictured) in Ruidoso, New Mexico, crashed and resulted in five deaths. Sierra Blanca Regional Airport

Key Takeaways:

A Cessna T310R crashed due to a stall and incipient spin on final approach, with the NTSB attributing the accident to the pilot getting too slow and having limited experience in the aircraft make and model.
The pilot had only 3.1 logged hours in the specific accident airplane, suggesting significant unfamiliarity, especially when flying fully loaded at a high-density altitude (9,500 feet).
Contributing factors included the high-density altitude, a slight tailwind on approach, and the pilot's actions to correct being high by inadvertently reducing airspeed and raising the nose, leading to an unrecoverable stall at low altitude.
While the NTSB concluded that the aircraft's overpopulation (7 people in a 6-seat plane, including a double-belted child) was not a cause, the article suggests it likely influenced handling or pilot perception.

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In June 2010, a Cessna T310R crashed in fine weather while on final approach at Ruidoso, New Mexico. Five people perished, two survived. The survivors were 12 and 16 years old, and I suspect that they were probably in the aftmost seats. Another young person, an 11-year-old boy, was double-belted in the right front seat with his mother.

Parenthetically, FAR 91.107, which concerns seat belts, does not explicitly forbid the practice of double-belting. The rule says everyone (except children under 2) must occupy a seat with safety belts, but does not stipulate that all passengers be in different seats. After this accident, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) urged the FAA to amend the rule, but the FAA chose not to do so.