- Date
- June 3, 2011, 09:00 local (13:00 UTC)
- Place
- Honea Path, SC
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N84572Aeronca 7AC
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Miscellaneous/other
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 6, 2011
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20110603011569A
- Case key
- 79292
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 loss of control during the takeoff.
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 student pilot stated that he was conducting a solo cross-country flight in the tailwheel-equipped airplane. He landed uneventfully at the destination airport, which was equipped with a turf runway, and to which he had flown with his instructor the previous day. After landing, the student pilot taxied the airplane back to the end of the runway to take off. He stated that he applied power to begin the takeoff roll, and the airplane lifted off the ground around 50 miles per hour. The student pilot lowered the airplane's nose to gain airspeed, and the airplane contacted the runway before impacting trees on the right side of the runway. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed substantial damage to the wing spar, and no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies were noted.
Factual narrative
The student pilot stated that he was conducting a solo cross-country flight in the tailwheel-equipped airplane. He landed uneventfully at the destination airport, which was equipped with a turf runway, and to which he had flown with his instructor the previous day. After landing, the student pilot taxied the airplane back to the end of the runway to take off. He stated that he applied power to begin the takeoff roll, and the airplane lifted off the ground around 50 miles per hour. The student pilot lowered the airplane's nose to gain airspeed, and the airplane contacted the runway before impacting trees on the right side of the runway. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector, who examined the airplane after the accident, stated the airplane sustained substantial damage to the wing spar, and that there were no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N84572
- Reported as
- Aeronca 7AC
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 7AC-3281
- Engine
- Cont Motor A&C65 SERIES, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Blue Ridge Sport Flight LLC
- Registered owner
- Blue Ridge Sport Flight LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- 0A7 · Hendersonville, NC
- Destination
- NA · Honea Path, SC
- Airport
- NA · Honea Path, runway 13, 3,500 × 150 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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 70
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Student
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 59 total · 7 in this make and model · 3 as pilot in command · 7 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.12 inHg
- Observed at
- AND, 16 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 19, 2011, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 391 KB 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.