- Date
- April 14, 2012, 14:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Cedartown, GA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N714JJCessna 150M
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 15, 2012
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20120414006249A
- Case key
- 83389
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 directional control during 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 pilot stated that the wind at the airport was from 210 degrees at 8 knots, and he elected to depart from runway 28. He aligned the airplane with the runway, and applied power. The tail rose during the takeoff roll, and several hundred feet later the airplane began veering to the left. The pilot attempted to correct with right brake but was unsuccessful. The airplane departed the south side of the runway and came to rest upright with the right main landing gear separated and structural damage to the right wing and right horizontal stabilizer. Postaccident examination revealed no evidence of preimpact failure or malfunction that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot stated that at the time of the accident the windsock depicted the wind to be from 210 degrees at 8 knots. Based on that indication he elected to depart from runway 28, and back taxied the tailwheel equipped airplane to the approach end of runway 28. He aligned the longitudinal axis of the airplane with the runway, then applied power. The tail raised during the takeoff roll, and several hundred feet later the airplane began veering to the left. He attempted to correct with right brake but was unsuccessful. The airplane departed the south side of the runway and came to rest upright with the right main landing gear separated. Structural damage to the right wing and right horizontal stabilizer was observed. Postaccident inspection of the right main landing gear by a Federal Aviation Administration airworthiness inspector revealed no evidence of preimpact failure or malfunction.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N714JJ
- Reported as
- Cessna 150M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15079209
- Airframe hours
- 6,687
- Engine
- Cont Motor O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Wimpey Robert J
- Registered owner
- Wimpey Robert J
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 1, 2011
- Departed
- 4A4 · Cedartown, GA
- Destination
- BWG · Bowling Green, KY
- Airport
- 4A4 · Polk County Airport, runway 28, 4,006 × 76 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
- 60
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Airline transport, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- January 11, 2012
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 15,000 total · 100 in this make and model · 12,250 as pilot in command · 200 in the last 90 days · 50 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 200° at 8 knots, gusting 16
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 41 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.25 inHg
- Observed at
- PUJ, 12 nm away
Docket · 7
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 13, 2012, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 11.6 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.