- Date
- July 19, 2021, 18:30 local (23:30 UTC)
- Place
- Brenham, TX · grassy field
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N9024MCessna 180
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Collision during takeoff/land
- 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
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20210719011249A
- Case key
- 103527
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 control of the airplane during takeoff from a rough field.
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 had landed in a field short of the runway due to fuel exhaustion. After he purchased fuel from the landowner and fueled the airplane, the pilot attempted to takeoff proceeding downhill on the rough field. Video taken by a witness showed the airplane start the ground roll and head about 145°. The airplane bounced twice, once coming airborne, before the airplane settled back to the ground. The airplane then pitched up, collided with a barbed wire fence, and climbed slightly before it descended, veered to the left, and collided with terrain. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing and both horizontal stabilizers. The pilot reported no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The prevailing wind at the time of the accident was a direct crosswind of 5 knots. The pilot refused to provide additional information concerning the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9024M
- Reported as
- Cessna 180 (H)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18052124
- Built
- 1970
- Engine
- Cont Motor O-470 SERIES, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Damianov Venko
- Registered owner
- Damianov Venko
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- Matagorda Island, TX
- Destination
- K11R · Brenham, TX
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.
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 280° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 79 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.98 inHg
- Observed at
- K11R, 7 nm away
- METAR
- METAR K11R 192335Z AUTO 28005KT 10SM SCT120 28/26 A2998 RMK AO2 LTG DSNT SW T02770260=
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 9, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.5 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.
Other investigations on N9024M · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.