The Alpha Principle

Loss of control in flight (LOC-F) is implicated in 51 percent of all fatal personal and business-use GA accidents, according to the NTSB. The preponderance of LOC-F events are aerodynamic stalls, according to NTSB member Dr. Earl Weener and as reported in his presentation at AOPA Summit in October 2012. Notably, fatal stalls are less common in instructional flight, perhaps because pilots are expecting them when training, and the instructor helps detect and respond to them. In my almost 30 years of experience, stalls and stall avoidance are constantly emphasized and feature regularly in NTSB investigations. I suspect a lot of Aviation Safety readers have even more experience than me, and have seen the same emphasis and crash record even longer.

Key Takeaways:

• Aerodynamic stalls are primarily caused by exceeding the critical angle of attack (Alpha), regardless of nose attitude or airspeed, which means a stall can occur even with the nose pointed down.
• Inadvertent stalls frequently result from excessive back pressure (increasing G-load) or uncoordinated flight, both of which can rapidly lead the wing to reach its critical Alpha.
• Effective stall avoidance and recovery emphasize reducing back pressure to decrease Alpha, maintaining coordinated flight using rudder, and practicing high-Alpha maneuvers to build intuitive control responses.

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