- Date
- September 20, 2022, 10:30 local (14:30 UTC)
- Place
- Lebanon, IN
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N905KMMossman Michael D Zenair CH 601 HD
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Loss of control in flight
- 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
- FAA report
- 20220920016039A
- Case key
- 105975
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 loss of lateral/bank control during takeoff due to the pilot’s decision to operate the airplane with a known fuel imbalance.
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 was performing a maintenance test flight following a recent condition inspection. Due to a persistent fuel leak in the right wing fuel tank, the pilot had about 11 gallons of fuel in the left wing fuel tank and the right fuel tank was empty. Before takeoff, the pilot checked all flight controls with no anomalies noted. The pilot reported that shortly after being out of ground effect during the takeoff, the airplane began to roll to the left. The pilot attempted to correct with right aileron control but was unsuccessful. The pilot pulled the throttle to idle, and the left roll continued until the left wingtip struck the terrain. The airplane cartwheeled into a cornfield adjacent to the runway, came to rest upright, and sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. It is likely the known fuel imbalance resulted in a left roll tendency that could not be corrected with the flight controls during the takeoff.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N905KM
- Reported as
- Mossman Michael D Zenair CH 601 HD
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 6-3795
- Built
- 2004
- Airframe hours
- 581
- Engine
- Rotax 912S, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · September 19, 2022
- Airport
- 6I4 · Boone County, runway 18, 3,600 × 30 ft, concrete
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS
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
- 67
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- BasicMed, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- December 10, 2020
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 1,030 total · 581 in this make and model · 949 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 130° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.05 inHg
- Observed at
- KEYE, 13 nm away
- METAR
- KEYE 201353Z AUTO 13005KT 10SM CLR 22/17 A3005 RMK AO2 SLP168 T02170167 $
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 24, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 6.1 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.