A Daher TBM 700 that crashed near Lansing, Michigan, on Oct. 3, 2019, was low, slow, and overweight, in addition to having a c.g. aft of the limit, according to a recently published NTSB final report. The crash killed the pilot and four passengers; a fifth passenger was seriously injured.
When the turboprop single took off about an hour before the accident on a Part 91 IFR business flight, it was some 232 pounds over mtow and about 2.53 inches beyond the aft c.g. limit. At impact, the airplane was estimated to be 126 pounds over the maximum landing weight and 2.95 inches past the aft c.g. limit while on an approach to Lansing Capital Region International Airport (KLAN).
According to ADS-B data, the airplane’s speed dropped from 166 knots at the final approach fix to 84 knots a half-mile out to 74 knots when it entered a shallow climb and left turn before stalling and impacting a field. “Based on the configuration of the airplane at the accident site, the pilot likely was retracting the landing gear and flaps for a go-around when the airplane stalled,” the NTSB concluded.
The NTSB determined that the aircraft's excessive weight and aft c.g. would have made it “unstable and difficult to recover” from a stall. “Additionally, without timely corrective rudder input, the airplane would tend to roll left after a rapid application of thrust at airspeeds less than 70 knots. However, the investigation was unable to determine how rapidly the pilot increased thrust or if a torque-roll occurred.”