Tom Dafoe (right) and son Will in front of the family Cessna 140 in Lubbock Texas. [FLYING Archive]
Key Takeaways:
The NTSB's preliminary report details a fatal crash at the MayDay STOL Drag competition, resulting in the death of pilot Tom Dafoe.
Dafoe, flying a 1946 Cessna 140 during an impromptu STOL pickup match, received two radio warnings to lower his aircraft's nose due to appearing too slow but did not respond.
Video evidence shows the aircraft pitching up, rolling right, and entering an unrecoverable spin at 300 feet agl, with no pre-impact mechanical issues discovered.
The accident occurred during an optional, informal STOL flying session after the formal competition's qualifying races were postponed due to gusting winds.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released a preliminary report this week on the fatal crash at the MayDay STOL Drag competition at Wayne Municipal-Stan Morris Field (KLCG) in Wayne, Nebraska.
According to the report, before crashing, the pilot received two warnings to lower the nose of the aircraft because it appeared to be flying too slow.
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Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.
