- Date
- March 13, 2021, 08:05 local (14:05 UTC)
- Place
- Paris, TX
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N50326Cessna 150H
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT)
- 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
- FAA report
- 20210313011899A
- Case key
- 102754
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 decision to takeoff with known obstacles on the runway and his subsequent failure to avoid the windsock on takeoff.
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
The pilot reported that while performing a soft and short field takeoff, he allowed the airplane to drift left to avoid crawfish chimneys on the grass runway. Immediately after the wheels left the ground the left wing impacted a windsock. The pilot continued to climb to about 30 ft above the ground at which time the airplane’s left wing lost lift and began to turn towards nearby trees. The pilot elected to land and during the landing the nose gear dropped, dug into the soft ground, and collapsed. The airplane subsequently nosed over and came to rest inverted. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the rudder and the right wing. The pilot reported there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot reported he was aware of the crawfish chimneys and normally they would have been removed before the flight, but the tractor used for that purpose was not working. He said he should not have flown until the runway was cleared and paid more attention to the airplane’s alignment on the runway.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N50326
- Reported as
- Cessna 150H
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15069229
- Built
- 1968
- Airframe hours
- 5,322
- Engine
- Cont Motor 0-200 SERIES, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Thompson Arthur W
- Registered owner
- Thompson Arthur W
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · September 7, 2020
- Destination
- SLR · Sulpher Springs, TX
- Airport
- None · Private, runway 36/18, 1,940 × 50 ft, grass/turf
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS, ADS-B, Stall warning system
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
- 75
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 24, 2019
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 900 total · 300 in this make and model · 870 as pilot in command · 2 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 135° at 3 knots
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,500 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 65 °F, dew point 60 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.77 inHg
- Observed at
- KPRX, 9 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 19, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 7.7 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.