- Date
- August 15, 2020, 20:00 local (Aug 16, 2020, 02:00 UTC)
- Place
- White Owl, SD
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N6643YBeech 35
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA Rapid City FSDO
- FAA report
- 20200816013259A
- Case key
- 101808
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 during the takeoff, which resulted in a runway excursion and subsequent impact with an obstacle and terrain.
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 pilot reported that he was taking off from a private dry grass airstrip that was slightly uphill and into a slight wind. As the airplane accelerated, the pilot had "increasing trouble keeping the airplane from going left." The airplane departed the airstrip to the left and collided with terrain and hay bales. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6643Y
- Reported as
- Beech 35 (V35B)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- D-10264
- Built
- 1979
- Airframe hours
- 3,361.7
- Engine
- Continental Motors IO-520-BB, 285 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · December 7, 2019
- Departed
- None · White Owl, SD
- Destination
- Y14 · Tea, SD
- Airport
- None · Private Airstrip, runway 27, 2,600 × 50 ft, grass/turf
- Equipment
- Electronic primary flight display, Electronic multifunction display, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Auto-pilot, ADS-B, Stall warning system, Handheld GPS, Onboard weather
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
- 48
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 17, 2019
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 447 total · 377 in this make and model · 447 as pilot in command · 6 in the last 90 days · 26 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 30° at 6 knots
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.19 inHg
- Observed at
- KD07, 30 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 9, 2020, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 5.1 MB 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.