- Date
- April 21, 2011, 13:30 local (17:30 UTC)
- Place
- Locust Grove, GA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N190GEVans RV8
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Nose over/nose down
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 3, 2011
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20110421008499A
- Case key
- 78937
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 aircraft control during the takeoff roll.
Findings · 2
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
The pilot of the experimental amateur-built, tailwheel-equipped airplane stated that during the takeoff roll, at approximately 45 knots, the airplane's tail lifted off the ground and the airplane immediately turned left. The pilot attempted to correct with right rudder, brake, and aileron inputs; however, the airplane's right wing and propeller struck the ground. The pilot reduced power, and the airplane continued for approximately 150 feet before it nosed over. The airplane subsequently came to rest upright, and sustained substantial damage to the engine firewall and both wings. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no mechanical anomalies of the brake system or rudder controls.
Factual narrative
The pilot of the experimental amateur-built, tailwheel-equipped airplane stated that during the takeoff roll, at approximately 45 knots, the airplane's tail lifted off the ground and the airplane immediately turned left. The pilot attempted to correct with right rudder, brake, and aileron inputs; however, the airplane's right wing and propeller struck the ground. The pilot reduced power, and the airplane continued for approximately 150 feet before it nosed over. The airplane subsequently came to rest upright, and sustained substantial damage to the engine firewall and both wings. Postaccident examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector revealed no mechanical anomalies of the brake system or rudder controls.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N190GE
- Reported as
- Vans RV8 (UNDESIGNAT)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 81689
- Airframe hours
- 393
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- GA04 · Locust Grove, GA
- Destination
- 4A4 · Cedartown, GA
- Flight plan
- Unknown
- Airport
- GA04 · Mallards Landing Airport, runway 25, 4,500 × 100 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
- 65
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Airline transport, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- July 1, 2010
- Flight hours
- 7,000 total · 393 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.15 inHg
- Observed at
- ATL, 21 nm away
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 2, 2011, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.6 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.