- Date
- October 13, 2007, 10:34 local (15:34 UTC)
- Place
- San Antonio, TX
- Injuries
- 2 serious, 1 minor; on the ground: 1 serious, 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N628RVFormhals RV-8
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 30, 2008
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20071013828039A
- Case key
- 66890
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 automobile driver's failure to yield right-a-way to the airplane before crossing an active 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
As the airplane's tailwheel lifted off the runway during the takeoff roll, the pilot saw an automobile moving onto the runway. The airplane had not yet obtained flying speed, and there was not sufficient runway space between the two vehicles to stop. The pilot pulled back on the flight control stick in an attempt to go over the automobile, but was not successful. The accident occurred in an area where an access road crossed the runway.
Factual narrative
On October 13, 2007, about 1034 central daylight time, a single-engine Formhals RV-8 tail-wheel equipped experimental airplane, N628RV, was substantially damaged during a collision with an automobile during takeoff from the Boerne Stage Field Airport (5C1), near San Antonio, Texas. The private pilot, the sole occupant of the airplane, and the driver of the automobile were seriously injured. The airplane was registered to and operated by the pilot. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The local flight was originating at the time of the accident.
According to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector who responded to the accident site, the collision occurred approximately 555-feet from the airplane's initial takeoff roll. The inspector further reported that the accident occurred near an access road that crossed the runway to a house. The airplane and vehicle came to rest in an upright position. A post crash fire did not ensue. The pilot and automobile driver were air lifted to a local hospital.
The pilot later reported that as the tail-wheel lifted off the runway during the takeoff roll, he observed an automobile moving onto the runway. The airplane had not obtained flying speed and there was not sufficient runway space between the two vehicles to stop. The pilot further reported that he had pulled back on the flight control stick in an attempt to go over the automobile, but was not successful.
Photographs provided to the NTSB investigator-in-charge (IIC) revealed that the airplane's wings and fuselage sustained structural damage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N628RV
- Reported as
- Formhals RV-8
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Airframe hours
- 215
- Engine
- Formhals ECI, Titan, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · June 1, 2007
- Departed
- 5C1 · San Antonio, TX
- Airport
- 5C1 · Boerne Stage Field, runway 17, 4,340 × 60 ft, asphalt
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
- 55
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 2,255 total · 227 in this make and model · 2,201 as pilot in command · 47 in the last 90 days · 17 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 170° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.