- Date
- March 19, 2007, 12:00 local (17:00 UTC)
- Place
- Calhoun City, MS
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N90923Bellanca 7ECA
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 17, 2010
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- Case key
- 75261
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 maintain clearance from a fallen tree located off the right side of the runway during takeoff.
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 was departing a 50-foot wide turf runway which was oriented north and south. A fallen tree was lying on the right "outer edge" of the runway, but the pilot believed he "had room to miss it." During the takeoff roll, the airplane "went to the right," and the right wing contacted the fallen tree. The airplane spun to the right and collided with a fence. The right wing sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane, and that he "just got too close to the fallen tree."
Factual narrative
The pilot was departing a 50-foot wide turf runway which was oriented north and south. A fallen tree was lying on the right "outer edge" of the runway, but the pilot believed he "had room to miss it." During the takeoff roll, the airplane "went to the right," and the right wing contacted the fallen tree. The airplane spun to the right and collided with a fence. The right wing sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane, and that he "just got too close to the fallen tree."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N90923
- Reported as
- Bellanca 7ECA
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 899-73
- Engine
- Lycoming, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- James E. Wade
- Registered owner
- James E. Wade
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Aerobatic; Standard, Normal
- Departed
- MS76 · Calhoun City, MS
- Destination
- MS76 · Calhoun City, MS
- Airport
- MS76 · Wade Field Airport, runway 18, 2,000 × 50 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
- 41
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- July 9, 2005
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 715 total · 119 in this make and model · 715 as pilot in command · 31 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 190° at 12 knots, gusting 21
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 220 ft broken
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.28 inHg
- Observed at
- CBM, 40 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 23, 2010, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 468 KB in all.