The Rockwell International Aero Commander 690B had just lifted off from Thunder Bay (Ontario, Canada) Airport and was 45 ft above ground level when the pilot began a climbing left turn, and the airplane rapidly rolled left and struck Runway 12 inverted, killing the pilot, according to the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB).
The Aero Commander was destroyed by the impact and a post-impact fire.
In its final report on the accident, the TSB concluded that, during the turn, the airplane had entered an accelerated stall. The pilot’s “decision to conduct the rapid, low-level, climbing steep turn was likely influenced by an altered perception of risk from previous similar takeoffs that did not result in any adverse consequences,” the report said.
The accident flight, which was the pilot’s third flight of the day, departed from Thunder Bay at 2109:22 local time on Aug. 16, 2021, bound for Dryden Regional Airport where the airplane — usually flown o…
