Category: How flying works
What Is a Stall in a Plane? Warning Signs and Stall Recovery
Short answer
A stall happens when the wing meets the air at more than its critical angle of attack, so the airflow breaks away and lift drops. It is not an engine problem. Pilots recover by lowering the nose first.
A stall is about the wing, not the engine
The angle of attack is the angle between the wing and the oncoming air. When it passes the wing's critical angle, the airflow separates from the top of the wing and lift drops sharply. That is a stall. Because it depends on angle, not speed, a stall can happen at any airspeed, with the nose high or low, and at any power setting.
Try it yourself
Raise the angle of attack with the slider and listen: the warning horn starts before the critical angle, while there is still time to lower the nose.
Why pilots practise stalls high up
Stall accidents usually follow an unintended stall at low height, when the recovery is not finished before the aircraft reaches the ground. Typical moments are a steep climb after take-off, the last turn before landing and trying to stretch a glide. Some height is always lost in a recovery, so FAA training standards call for stalls to be practised high enough to finish the recovery no lower than 1,500 ft (about 460 m) above the ground.
Warning signs and the recovery
Pilots learn to spot an approaching stall: a stall warning horn or light, controls that feel soft or mushy as the speed falls, and buffeting, a shaking of the airframe.
The FAA handbook gives a general recovery for light aircraft, in this order. First, reduce the angle of attack by lowering the nose until the warning stops. Second, roll the wings level. Third, add power as needed. Last, return smoothly to the desired flight path without stalling again. Power reduces the height lost, but only lowering the angle of attack ends the stall.
Stall speed is not one fixed number
A stall speed in a manual holds only for steady level flight at one weight and centre of gravity (balance point). More weight raises the stall speed, and flaps (movable panels at the back of the wing) let the wing fly more slowly. In a level turn at 60° of bank, the wing carries twice the normal load and stalls at a speed about 41 percent higher.
Common mistakes and myths
- Adding power before lowering the nose. Power alone does not end a stall.
- Trying to lift a dropped wing with the roll controls before lowering the nose, which can deepen the stall.
- Pulling up hard straight after the recovery, which can stall the wing a second time.
Questions people ask
Is a stall the same as the engine stopping?
No. A stall is about the wing, not the engine, and it can happen at full power. An aircraft whose engine has stopped can still glide while the angle of attack stays below the critical angle. Stretching that glide too far is one way a stall can start.
Can an airliner stall?
Yes, any wing can. In jets, the warning normally comes from aural alerts, warning lights or a stick shaker, which shakes the pilots' controls. Some also have a stick pusher that lowers the nose automatically. The systems depend on the aircraft, and jet pilots are trained to recover at the first warning.
Can I practise stall recovery in AeroFox?
Yes, in a light trainer at a safe height. The lesson has two full stalls, power off and then power on, and you recover angle of attack first, as the handbook teaches. AeroFox is a learning tool, not certified training, and it does not count toward a pilot licence.
Practise it in the simulator
The free Stall recovery lesson lets you fly two full stalls in a light trainer at a safe height, power off and then power on, and recover angle of attack first.
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About these explainers
AeroFox is a free, public-interest project with no paid features. The explainers are written by the AeroFox team from public sources such as FAA handbooks, NASA and regulators, and, for the lessons from the news, from the news reports we link to. Each page lists its sources, and pages are updated when the facts or the lessons change. They explain ideas. They are not flight instruction, medical advice or legal advice, and they do not count toward any licence.