- Date
- August 12, 2012, 17:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- Schoolcraft, MI
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N4007BIson Eros
- Defining event
- Initial climb: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 12, 2013
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20120812019639A
- Case key
- 85016
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 operation of an airplane by a non-certificated pilot and his failure to maintain airplane control during the initial climb, which resulted in an uncontrolled decent.
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 airplane unexpectedly banked to the left during an initial climb over trees that were located at the departure end of an airstrip at the pilot's residence. The pilot regained control of the airplane about 25 feet above the ground and landed on a corn field. The pilot reported that there were no anomalies with the flight control system that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot did not hold a pilot certificate or an airman medical certificate.
Factual narrative
On August 12, 2012, about 1730 eastern daylight time, an Ison Aircraft Eros, N4007B, impacted terrain during initial climb from a private field near Schoolcraft, Michigan, following a loss of control. The pilot did not hold a pilot certificate or an airman medical certificate. The pilot was uninjured. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The airplane registration was not updated to show that it had been purchased by the pilot who was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a flight plan had not been filed for the flight that was originating at the time of the accident. According to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector, the pilot had been flying ultralight aircraft prior to his purchase of the accident airplane. The pilot stated he had accumulated a total flight time of about 30 hours in ultralight aircraft. The pilot did not hold an airplane medical or pilot certificate at the time of the accident. The pilot stated that he departed from his backyard and was performing short hops when the wind banked the airplane to the left as it climbed over trees. The wind was from the left. The pilot recovered the airplane about 25 feet above ground level and landed on a corn field. The pilot said that there were no mechanical anomalies with the flight controls. The FAA inspector stated that the airplane registration had not been transferred when the airplane was purchased by the pilot. The FAA asked the pilot to provide maintenance records for the airplane. Following the request, the FAA did not receive any of the records and was unable to establish if the airplane met aircraft inspection/maintenance requirements. The pilot then sold the airplane. A National Transportation Safety Accident/Incident Report, 6120.1, was not received from the pilot.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4007B
- Reported as
- Ison Eros
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 2644P
- Engine
- Volkswagon 1600, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Pilot
- Registered owner
- Sale Reported
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- Schoolcraft, MI
- Destination
- Schoolcraft, MI
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
- 33
- Injuries
- None
- Flight hours
- 30 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.02 inHg
- Observed at
- AZO, 7 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 31, 2013, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 117 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.