- Date
- March 28, 2008, 15:25 local (20:25 UTC)
- Place
- Mankato, KS
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N50GMPiper PA-28-150
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 30, 2008
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20080328013989A
- Case key
- 67736
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 student pilot's failure to maintain directional control during the takeoff roll. Contributing factors were the fence and trees.
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
During the takeoff roll, the student pilot pulled back on the yoke to raise the nose wheel off the runway. He reported that "as the nose rose, I lost visual on the runway." The student pilot thought the main landing gear tires had lifted off the runway and he lowered the nose to increase speed in ground effect. He then realized the airplane had drifted off the right side of the runway. The airplane struck a fence and trees, and came to rest upright in a field.
Factual narrative
According to the student pilot, he was practicing a soft-field takeoff on runway 35. During the takeoff roll, he pulled back on the yoke to raise the nose wheel off the runway. He reported that "as the nose rose, I lost visual on the runway." The student pilot thought the main landing gear tires had lifted off the runway and he lowered the nose to increase speed in ground effect. He then realized the airplane had drifted off the right side of the runway. The airplane impacted a fence and trees, and came to rest upright in a grass field. The student pilot reported the wind was from the east at 5 knots. The student pilot, who was the sole occupant, was not injured. He stated he had accumulated 43.5 total flight hours. An examination of the airplane showed that the horizontal stabilizer was partially separated from the fuselage, and fuselage was buckled.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N50GM
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-499
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A2B, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- David S. Baird
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- TKO · Mankato, KS
- Destination
- TKO · Mankato, KS
- Airport
- TKO · Mankato, runway 35
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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 57
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 44 total · 44 in this make and model · 10 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.