Think-Dash

Pilot, not design, will take heat for Cessna Skycatcher prang: August 1 marked the first crash of an in-service Cessna C162 Skycatcher, and from all indications, it's the pilot's fault and not the design of the demure two-seat light sport aircraft that Cessna builds in China.

I flew it back in 2009 and filed this report and this video.

The Skycatcher during spin testing in the development phase took a bad rap for taking too long to recover from worst-case cross-controlled entries. Pilots were OK both times after having to pull the chute or bail out, and Cessna made design changes to remove the problem.

Unfortunately they couldn't make the lights sport safe from operator error, in this case, a pilot and passenger heading back to California from Oshkosh. Here's the NTSB report.

Too high density altitude and quartering tailwind on takeoff added up to destruction for N7024V, but fortunately, not death nor injury to its riders.