- Date
- November 8, 2020, 14:18 local (20:18 UTC)
- Place
- Waukegan, IL
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N77759Temco GC-1B
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration, Greater Chicago FSDO
- FAA report
- 20201108017839A
- Case key
- 102281
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 takeoff with a crosswind that resulted in a ground loop and impact with terrain.
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 private pilot reported that while taking off for a personal flight in a tailwheel airplane, the airplane encountered wind from the south during the takeoff roll and weathervaned. The airplane subsequently departed the left side of the runway and ground looped. During the ground loop, the right main landing gear collapsed, and the right wing struck the ground sustaining substantial damage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. At the time of the accident, the pilot was taking the airplane off on runway 23 with the wind from 130o at 8-10 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N77759
- Reported as
- Temco GC-1B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 3531
- Built
- 1948
- Airframe hours
- 1,826.37
- Engine
- Continental C-145-2H, 145 hp, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 6, 2020
- Destination
- Ann Arbor, MI
- Airport
- UGN · Waukegan National Airport, runway 23, 5,999 × 150 ft, concrete
- Equipment
- ADS-B, Electronic flight bag or handheld device
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
- 49
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- September 19, 2020
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 247 total · 65 in this make and model · 163 as pilot in command · 10 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.15 inHg
- Observed at
- UGN, -19 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 18, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.9 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.