- Date
- July 15, 2025, 17:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Russellville, IN · cornfield
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N7501ASchweizer G-164B
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Dragged wing/rotor/float/other
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 9, 2026
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration - Indianapolis FSDO
- FAA report
- 20250715008799A
- Case key
- 200561
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 establish and maintain the airstrip centerline during takeoff, which resulted in the airplane’s right wingtips contacting the corn that bordered the airstrip.
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 was departing from a 100-ft-wide grass airstrip in the tailwheel-equipped agricultural biplane. The pilot reported that during the takeoff run, as the tail of the airplane came up, the right wingtips contacted the corn that bordered the airstrip. The airplane subsequently veered further into the corn and spun around. The airplane’s wings, fuselage, and empennage were substantially damaged during the accident. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7501A
- Reported as
- Schweizer G-164B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 803B
- Built
- 1988
- Airframe hours
- 12,919.4
- Engine
- Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-27, 715 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- BI-State Air, Inc
- Registered owner
- BI-State Air, Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 15, 2024 · 15 hours before
- Departed
- II68 · Russellville, IN
- Airport
- II68 · Durham Airport, runway 26, 2,200 × 100 ft, grass/turf
- 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
- 65
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 15, 2025
- Seat
- Single
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 12,503 total · 1,100 in this make and model · 12,503 as pilot in command · 20 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- CFJ, 7 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KCFJ 152055Z AUTO 14004KT 10SM SCT028 SCT065 SCT070 27/22 A3000 RMK AO2 P0009 60009 T02670223=
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 9, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 6.9 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.