FAA-H-8083-25C, ch. 5

What causes an aircraft stall?

A stall is about angle of attack, not speed. Here is what the FAA says, the exam traps and practice questions, with the FAA source under each answer.

Part 107, explained · Last reviewed October 25, 2026 against the eCFR and faa.gov. UAV Campus is not affiliated with the FAA.

What causes a stall, and what is the critical angle of attack?

A stall is a rapid decrease in lift caused by airflow separating from the wing after the critical angle of attack is exceeded. It can occur at any pitch attitude or airspeed. A given aircraft always stalls at the same angle of attack, regardless of airspeed, weight, load factor or density altitude.

Source: FAA-H-8083-25C ch. 5, Stalls

What the FAA handbook says

FAA-H-8083-25C ch. 5, Stalls
An aircraft stall results from a rapid decrease in lift caused by the separation of airflow from the wing’s surface brought on by exceeding the critical AOA. A stall can occur at any pitch attitude or airspeed.

FAA-H-8083-25C ch. 5, Stalls
The stalling speed of a particular aircraft is not a fixed value for all flight situations, but a given aircraft always stalls at the same AOA regardless of airspeed, weight, load factor, or density altitude.

Sources: FAA-H-8083-25C ch. 5, Stalls · FAA-H-8083-25C ch. 5, Stalls

Exam traps

In a stall the wing does not totally stop producing lift: it cannot generate adequate lift to sustain level flight.
The critical angle of attack varies from approximately 16 to 20 degrees depending on the aircraft's design, but each aircraft has only one specific stall angle.
The critical angle of attack is most frequently exceeded in three situations: low speed, high speed and turning.
The stalling speed of an aircraft is higher in a level turn than in straight-and-level flight.

Try it: practice questions

Similar to the FAA test, not the actual test questions.

Practice question 1

A stall occurs when the smooth airflow over the unmanned airplane’s wing is disrupted and the lift degenerates rapidly. This is caused when the wing

A exceeds its critical angle of attack.
B exceeds the maximum speed.
C exceeds maximum allowable operating weight.

Show the answer

Answer: A. exceeds its critical angle of attack.

While the traditional wisdom dictates that this happens at slow airspeed, when the nose of the aircraft is high, this can happen at any speed. If you apply abrupt pitch-up controls, the angle of attack can reach the critical number where the airflow separates and the aircraft stalls. Remember also that the angle of attack is the difference between the chord line and the relative wind (or direction of motion of the aircraft). When the aircraft reaches maximum speed, the wing will still produce lift, but structural failure can occur (the aircraft wouldn’t be strong enough to go that fast). If the aircraft exceeds its maximum allowable operating weight, structural damage or failure is also a possibility.)

FAA source: FAA-H-8083-25C ch. 5, Stalls

Practice question 2

The angle of attack at which an airplane wing stalls will

A increase if the CG is moved forward.
B remain the same regardless of gross weight.
C change with an increase in gross weight.

Show the answer

Answer: B. remain the same regardless of gross weight.

(The angle of attack at which an airplane stalls is defined as the critical angle of attack. Since the angle of attack is defined as the difference between the chord line and the relative wind, it is not affected by weight at all.)