- Date
- March 6, 2024, 13:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- Lockhart, TX
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N7710JPietenpol Aircamper
- 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
- 20240306001609A
- Case key
- 193913
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 during after 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, shortly after takeoff from runway 18, the airplane moved laterally to the left. The pilot tried to correct by inputting right rudder and right aileron. The left wing rose abruptly, and the airplane crossed to the right side of the runway. The airplane lost lift and landed in the grass on the right side of the runway. The pilot attempted to stop, but the airplane slid into a drainage ditch. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot reported swirling wind contributed to the loss of control. The reported wind at an airport 10 miles northwest was 150° at 6 kts.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7710J
- Reported as
- Pietenpol Aircamper (NO SERIES EXISTS)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 001
- Built
- 2012
- Airframe hours
- 288.5
- Engine
- Continental A-65-3, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · May 17, 2023
- Departed
- 50R · Lockhart, TX
- Airport
- 50R · Lockhart Municipal, runway 18, 4,001 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- 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
- 82
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- BasicMed, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 23, 2023
- Seat
- Rear
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 8,070 total · 288 in this make and model · 7,663 as pilot in command · 4 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 150° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.90 inHg
- Observed at
- KHYI, 10 nm away
- METAR
- KHYI 061856Z 15006KT 10SM CLR 26/18 A2990
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 29, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.4 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.