- Date
- June 26, 1999, 15:15 local (20:15 UTC)
- Place
- Baldwin City, KS
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N184BDMahler BD-4
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 18, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19990626007659A
- Case key
- 46675
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 not maintaining directional control with the runway centerline during takeoff. A factor was the high vegetation off the left side of the runway.
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
The pilot said he was taking off on runway 16 and was using the left side of the runway. He stated the airplane drifted further to the left side of the runway, exited the left side of the runway, and entered tall grass. He said the grass was three foot high. He said the left wing tip contacted the ground and the nose gear buckled. He stated the airplane skidded to a stop approximately 100 feet to the left of the runway. At 1454, the Lawrence Municipal Airport weather observation was: Wind 160 degrees at 8 knots.
Factual narrative
On June 26, 1999, at 1515 central daylight time, a Mahler BD-4, N184BD, piloted by a private pilot received substantial damage on impact with terrain during an attempted takeoff from runway 16 (3,220 feet X 80 feet dry turf/gravel) at Vinland Valley Aerodrome Airport, Baldwin City, Kansas. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The 14 CFR Part 91 flight was not on a flight plan. The pilot and passenger reported no injuries. The flight was originating at the time of the accident and with an intended destination of Ottawa Municipal Airport, Ottawa, Kansas.
In his written statement, the pilot said that he was taking off on runway 16 and was using the left side of the runway. He stated that midway down the runway, the airplane drifted further to the left side of the runway, exited the left side of the runway, and entered tall grass. He said that the grass was three feet high. He said that the left wing tip contacted the ground and the nose gear buckled. He stated that the airplane skidded to a stop approximately 100 feet to the left of the runway.
At 1454, the Lawrence Municipal Airport weather observation was: Wind 160 degrees at 8 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N184BD
- Reported as
- Mahler BD-4
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 184
- Airframe hours
- 862
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Rodny Sebby / Terry Kilgore
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 15, 1998 · 6 hours before
- Departed
- K64
- Destination
- OWI · Ottawa, KS
- Airport
- K64 · Vinland Valley Aerodrome, runway 16, 3,220 × 80 ft, grass/turf
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
- 46
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 195 total · 9 in this make and model · 89 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 160° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 73 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LWC, 10 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.