- Date
- June 11, 2003, 11:30 local (15:30 UTC)
- Place
- St. Simons Isld, GA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N221SAAyers RV-6A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 30, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Atlanta FSDO
- FAA report
- 20030611018109A
- Case key
- 57432
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 inadequate preflight inspection that resulted in his failure to remove the seatbelt (flight control gust lock) from the right side flight control stick.
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
According to the pilot, the right control stick was secured with the passenger seat belt, acting as a gust lock. The pilot stated that he took off without removing the seat belt from the control stick. When the airplane pitched up, it veered to the left side of the runway, the pilot reduced engine power, landed off the left side of the runway and flipped inverted.
Factual narrative
On June 11, 2003, at 1130 eastern daylight time, a Steven Ayers experimental RV-6A, N221SA, owned and operated by the private pilot landed off the runway and flipped over during an aborted takeoff at Malcolm McKinnon Airport, St. Simons Island, Georgia. The personal flight was operated under the provisions of Title 14 CFR part 91 and instrument flight rules. Visual weather conditions prevailed and an IFR flight plan was filed. The pilot received minor injuries and the experimental airplane was substantially damaged. The flight was originating at the time of the accident.
According to the pilot, the right control stick was secured with the passenger seat belt, acting as a gust lock. The pilot stated that he took off without removing the seat belt from the control stick. When the airplane pitched up, it veered to the left side of the runway, the pilot reduced engine power, landed off the left side of the runway and flipped inverted. No mechanical or flight control malfunctions were reported by the pilot prior to the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N221SA
- Reported as
- Ayers RV-6A
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 23147
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D1A, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Paul L. Dorn Jr.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- SSI · St. Simons Isld, GA
- Destination
- FTY · Atlanta, GA
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- SSI · Dummy, runway 22
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
- 67
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 750 total · 117 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 0° at 0 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 86 °F, dew point 73 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.05 inHg
- Observed at
- KSSI
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.