- Date
- October 16, 2011, 15:30 local (19:30 UTC)
- Place
- Mebane, NC
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N3760HEngineering & Research 415-C
- Defining event
- Takeoff-rejected takeoff: Runway excursion
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 18, 2012
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20111016023669A
- Case key
- 82103
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 delay in aborting the takeoff.
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
The pilot/owner stated that, as he began to taxi the airplane, the wind shifted. During takeoff, the airplane reached rotation speed at the midpoint of the runway, but at rotation the airplane would not climb, and the pilot noticed a loss of airspeed but no loss of engine power. Suspecting a shift in wind direction, the pilot aborted the takeoff; however, the airplane overran the departure end of the runway and struck a ditch and an embankment, damaging the nose. According to the pilot, there were no mechanical deficiencies with the airplane prior to the accident. He also reported that the airplane's takeoff weight was 23 pounds below its maximum allowable gross weight.
Factual narrative
The pilot/owner stated that prior to departing the grass strip oriented 140 degrees; the reported wind was from 250 degrees at 9 knots gusting to 18 knots. He also reported that the airplane's takeoff weight was 23 pounds below its maximum allowable gross weight. The airplane reached rotation speed at the midpoint of the runway, but at rotation the airplane would not climb, and the pilot noticed a loss of airspeed but no loss of engine power. The pilot aborted the takeoff, but the airplane overran the departure end and struck a ditch and an embankment. According to the pilot, there were no mechanical deficiencies with his airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3760H
- Reported as
- Engineering & Research 415-C
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 4385
- Airframe hours
- 1,495
- Engine
- Cont Motor A&C75 SERIES, 75 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 12, 2011 · 21 hours before
- Departed
- 7NC6 · Mebane, NC
- Destination
- NC81 · Apex, NC
- Airport
- 7NC6 · Kimrey Airport, runway 13, 2,400 × 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
- 76
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Sport pilot
- Last flight review
- February 14, 2011
- Flight hours
- 4,000 total · 155 in this make and model · 3,800 as pilot in command · 16 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 11 knots, gusting 18
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.01 inHg
- Observed at
- BUY, 7 nm away
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 30, 2011, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.1 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.