- Date
- August 5, 1987, 20:19 local (Aug 6, 1987, 01:19 UTC)
- Place
- Kankakee/Elks, IL
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N44870Robertson B1-RD
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 14, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19870805043199A
- Case key
- 13558
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
During a takeoff from a golf course fairway the acft collided with a tree and crashed. A sketched description of the scene revealed only 60 yards between the starting point of the takeoff and the tree. In spite of this, the plt stated that he climbed to about 50 ft above the tree and started a turn to the right. When he tried to roll out of the turn, according to this statement, the acft continued to turn. He further stated that when continued efforts to recover failed he reduced power to idle and tried to hit the engine 'kill' switch before impact. The on-scene investigation revealed no mechanical discrepancies of the acft. According to one eyewitnes statement the acft was operating normally and appeared to have stalled during the climbout.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N44870
- Reported as
- Robertson B1-RD
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 095
- Airframe hours
- 86
- Engine
- Cuyuna 430-R, 30 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Gerald Anderson
- Registered owner
- Joseph Russell
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 4, 1986 · 36 hours before
- Destination
- IKK · Kankakee, IL
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
- 44
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 274 total · 6 in this make and model · 232 as pilot in command · 6 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 50° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- IKK, 5 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.