- Date
- May 29, 2010, 17:45 local (22:45 UTC)
- Place
- Early, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N3472Moe-Pietenpol Aircamper A
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 12, 2010
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- FAA report
- 20100529035499A
- Case key
- 76191
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 selection of an unsuitable takeoff site.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The commercial pilot ran out of gas and safely landed his open-cockpit experimental airplane in a field. He obtained 4.5 gallons of fuel and noted that the field grass was low-to-mid ankle high and relatively thin, which would lengthen his take-off distance. During the take-off roll, at approximately 40 miles per hour, the left main landing gear wheel struck uneven terrain and sheered it off, which caused the left main landing gear strut to dig into the ground and flip the airplane over. As a result, the vertical fin and the engine mounts were substantially damaged. The gear failed at a flat weld that attached a metal plate to the landing gear through the brake assembly. It could not be determined when the weld had been done.
Factual narrative
The commercial pilot ran out of gas and safely landed his open-cockpit experimental airplane in a field. He obtained 4.5 gallons of fuel and noted that the field grass was low-to-mid ankle high and relatively thin, which would lengthen his take-off distance. During the take-off roll, at approximately 40 miles per hour, the left main landing gear wheel struck uneven terrain and sheered it off, which caused the left main landing gear strut to dig into the ground and flip the airplane over. As a result, the vertical fin and the engine mounts were substantially damaged. The gear failed at a flat weld that attached a metal plate to the landing gear through the brake assembly. It could not be determined when the weld had been done.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3472
- Reported as
- Moe-Pietenpol Aircamper A
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1
- Engine
- Cont Motor A-65-8, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Hays James B
- Registered owner
- Hays James B
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- F23 · Ranger, TX
- Destination
- 10SX · Brownwood, TX
- Airport
- None
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
- 70
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 2,364 total · 14 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 30, 2010, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 357 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.