NTSB Factual Report

On September 11, 2016, at 1558 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-18 airplane, N3286Z, was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain southwest of the Greenville Municipal Airport (6D6), Greenville, Michigan. The private pilot and passenger sustained serious injuries. The airplane was registered to and operated by a private individual under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight . Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) flight plan had been filed for the flight. The flight was originating at the time of the accident and was en route to Hillsdale Municipal Airport (JYM), Hillsdale, Michigan.

According to the written statement submitted to the National Transportation Safety Board by the pilot, the airplane departed from runway 28. The pilot turned the airplane on course prior to reaching an altitude sufficient to clear the trees south of the runway. The pilot turned the airplane to avoid the trees and stalled the airplane. As he continued to try and maneuver the airplane away from the trees the airplane entered a secondary stall, descended, and impacted terrain on the south side of the airport about 100 yards southwest of the grass airstrip. The airplane impacted the ground in a vertical attitude and the fuselage and wings were crushed. According to the FAA inspector who responded to the accident, there were no mechanical anomalies with the airframe, engine, or flight controls that would have precluded normal operation.

NTSB Probable Cause

The pilot's premature turn during the takeoff climb and subsequent turn to avoid trees, which resulted in his exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle-of-attack and a subsequent aerodynamic stall.