- Date
- March 30, 2022, 12:15 local (17:15 UTC)
- Place
- Lampasas, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N4738BCessna 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 - San Antonio FSDO
- FAA report
- 20220330004469A
- Case key
- 104862
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 perform a takeoff from a perpendicular taxiway rather than the airport runway, which led to the airplane striking trees at the end of the departure path.
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 pilot of the tailwheel equipped airplane reported that when he landed, the landing was “rough” and right at the edge of the airplane’s crosswind capabilities. Due to the strong crosswind, the pilot said he thought he would be better off taking off into the wind from the perpendicular taxiway since it was more into the wind. He said that during the takeoff, the wind wasn’t as strong as he thought, and he wasn’t able to clear the trees that were in the departure path. A cell phone video of the accident provided by a witness was consistent with the pilot’s description of the accident. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left elevator, right wing, and right aileron. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The accident airport had one runway (16/34) and the recorded winds about the time of the accident were from 300° at 12 kts, gusting to 25 kts.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4738B
- Reported as
- Cessna 180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 31636
- Built
- 1955
- Engine
- Continental O-470, 225 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Destination
- 30F · Dallas, TX
- Airport
- LZZ · Lampasas
- Equipment
- Unknown
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
- 78
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- BasicMed
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 2,500 total · 1,200 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 12 knots, gusting 25
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.64 inHg
- Observed at
- KLZZ
- METAR
- KLZZ 301715Z AUTO 30012G25KT 10SM CLR 20/06 A2964 RMK AO2 T01960062
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 12, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 129 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.