- Date
- August 27, 2024, 17:45 local (22:45 UTC)
- Place
- Oshkosh, WI
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N151GHEsqual VM1
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Loss of lift
- 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 GL13 Milwaukee
- FAA report
- 20240827012619A
- Case key
- 195020
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 premature rotation during takeoff which resulted in the airplane settling back to the runway and the subsequent separation of the left wheel.
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 executed two stabilized low approaches without touching down. After touchdown following the third approach, engine power was added, and the wing flaps were retracted. Before the flaps were fully retracted and before rotation speed, the pilot rotated, and the airplane lifted off the runway. The airplane sank back onto the runway with a side load on the left main landing gear. The left axle broke, and the left wheel separated from the airplane and impacted the horizontal stabilizer. The pilot continued the takeoff, and the control tower confirmed there was no left wheel on the airplane. The second pilot landed the airplane on the runway without further incident. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left side of the fuselage near the attachment point of the left horizontal stabilizer when the wheel impacted the airplane. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operations.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N151GH
- Reported as
- Esqual VM1
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 51
- Built
- 2005
- Airframe hours
- 505.1
- Engine
- Rotax 912UL, 114 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Nathan Whiting
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental light sport (Special)
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- OSH · Wittman Regional Airport, runway 27, 6,179 × 150 ft, concrete
- Equipment
- Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Auto-pilot, ADS-B, Electronic primary flight display
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 28
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Sport Pilot
- Medical
- Sport pilot, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 120 total · 10 in this make and model · 1 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Pilot-rated passenger
- Age
- 25
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 200 total · 10 in this make and model · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 290° at 6 knots
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.96 inHg
- Observed at
- KOSH
- METAR
- METAR 1646 SPECI 29006KT 10SM CLR 28/22 A2996
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 24, 2024, 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.