- Date
- September 23, 2010, 09:45 local (14:45 UTC)
- Place
- Pocahontas, AR
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N8820QAero Commander S2R
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Collision during takeoff/land
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 16, 2011
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA Flight Standards District Office
- FAA report
- 20100923046969A
- Case key
- 77383
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 abort the takeoff in a timely manner. Contributing to the accident was the weight of the airplane and the high ambient temperature.
Findings · 4
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
According to the pilot, the airplane was fully loaded with chemicals for the aerial application flight, and the ambient temperature was high. As the airplane reached the end of the runway during the takeoff roll and lifted off, it struck an embankment, impacted a field, and caught fire.
Factual narrative
On September 23, 2010, approximately 0945 central daylight time, an Aero Commander S2R, N8820Q, operated by Kirk Aviation, was destroyed when it struck an embankment and caught fire on takeoff from a private airstrip 3 miles north of Pocahontas, Arkansas. Visual meteorological conditions (VMC) prevailed at the time of the accident. The aerial application flight was being conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 137 without a flight plan. The pilot, the sole occupant on board, was seriously injured. The local flight was originating at the time of the accident. The pilot was asked submit NTSB Form 6120.1/2, Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report. No report was ever received. The following is based on a telephone conversation with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector who went to the accident site. The pilot told the inspector that the airplane was fully loaded and the ambient temperature was high. As the airplane reached the end of the runway and lifted off, it struck an embankment, impacted a field, and burned.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8820Q
- Reported as
- Aero Commander S2R
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1520R
- Engine
- Pratt & Whitney R-1340-AN1, 600 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Kirk Aviation, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Kirk Aviation, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Departed
- NONE · Pocahontas, AR
- Destination
- NONE · Pocahontas, AR
- Airport
- NONE · Private Airstrip
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
- 54
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Last flight review
- July 20, 2009
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 3,640 total · 455 in this make and model · 74 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 190° at 14 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 68 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.11 inHg
- Observed at
- ARG
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 10, 2011, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 55 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.
Other investigations on N8820Q · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.