NTSB Reveals TBM 700 Crash Causes

A Daher TBM 700 that crashed near Lansing, Michigan, on Oct. 3, 2019, was flying low and slow and was overweight, in addition to having a weight-and-balance center of gravity that was too far aft, which affects controllability, according to a recently published National Transportation Safety Board 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 maximum takeoff weight. At impact, the airplane was estimated to be 126 pounds over the maximum landing weight while on an approach to Lansing Capital Region International Airport (KLAN).

According to official 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 hitting 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 its weight-and-balance center of gravity, which was too far aft, 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.”