- Date
- September 12, 2010, 19:00 local (Sep 13, 2010, 00:00 UTC)
- Place
- Rushville, NE
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N714ALCessna A185F
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Loss of visual reference
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 16, 2011
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20100912044949A
- Case key
- 77308
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 maintain directional control of the airplane during takeoff. Contributing to the accident was the loss of visual reference due to the sun glare.
Findings · 3
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 pilot was departing to the west from a grass airstrip during the late afternoon. As the airplane crested an upslope in the runway surface, the pilot lost visual reference with the ground due to the sun glare blinding him. The pilot could not maintain directional control and collided into a rut. The landing gear collapsed and the airplane came to rest on its belly, substantially damaging the firewall. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot was taking off from an unimproved grass airstrip to the west during the late afternoon. As the airplane crested a rise in the runway the pilot lost visual reference with the ground due to the sun being in his eyes. The pilot could not maintain directional control and struck a rut in the ground. The landing gear collapsed and the airplane came to rest on its belly, substantially damaging the firewall. The pilot did not indicate there were any mechanical problems with the airplane prior to the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N714AL
- Reported as
- Cessna A185F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18504384
- Airframe hours
- 4,622
- Engine
- Cont Motor IO 520 SERIES, 285 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Forney Glen A
- Registered owner
- Forney Glen A
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 14, 2010
- Departed
- N/A · Rushville, NE
- Destination
- BFF · Scottsbluff, NE
- Airport
- N/A · Private Airsttrip, runway 27, grass/turf
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 61
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- January 11, 2009
- Flight hours
- 1,400 total · 300 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 5, 2010, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 637 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.