- Date
- October 18, 1996, 11:52 local (19:52 UTC)
- Place
- Sitka, AK
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N239AHBurns Burn Experimental
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 31, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19961018033089A
- Case key
- 2949
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
the pilot's failure to follow the checklist and secure the cockpit door/canopy.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The pilot stated that he was in a hurry, and was trying to complete his takeoff before the arrival of an inbound jet. He stated that he did not lock the cockpit canopy. During takeoff, approximately 10 feet in the air, the canopy came open, and the airplane fell to the runway and was damaged.
Factual narrative
On October 18, 1996, at 1152 Alaska daylight time, a wheel equipped experimental airplane, model Burns Burn, N239AH, registered to and operated by the pilot, crashed during takeoff at Sitka, Alaska. The personal flight, operating under 14 CFR Part 91, was departing runway 29 at Sitka for a local flight. No flight plan was filed and visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The certificated private pilot, the sole occupant, received minor injuries. The airplane received substantial damage.
According to rescue personnel, the pilot stated that he was in a hurry and trying to complete his takeoff prior to the arrival of an inbound jet. He stated that he did not lock the cockpit canopy. During the takeoff, approximately 10 feet in the air, the canopy came open and the airplane fell to the runway.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N239AH
- Reported as
- Burns Burn Experimental (EXPERIMENT)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- SA101
- Airframe hours
- 185
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A1A, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Adolf Eugene Curry
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 19, 1996 · 5 hours before
- Departed
- SIT
- Airport
- SIT · Sitka, runway 29, 6,500 × 150 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 57
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 2,000 total · 11 in this make and model · 2,000 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 41 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SIT
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.