- Date
- July 29, 2017, 09:30 local (13:30 UTC)
- Place
- Orlando, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N747CBConsolidated Aeronautics Lake LA 4
- Defining event
- Taxi-from runway: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 20, 2020
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20170729010159A
- Case key
- 95737
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
A loss of directional control during taxi operations for reasons that could not be determined based on the available information, which resulted in the airplane rolling into a ditch.
Findings · 4
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
While the noncertificated pilot was taxiing the airplane to a hangar after a local flight, he lost directional control, and the airplane then rolled into a ditch, which resulted in substantial damage to the right wing. The pilot reported that the left brake actuator had failed. A review of the airplane's maintenance logbooks revealed that the last annual inspection was completed more than 10 years before the accident. During postaccident examination of the airplane immediately after the accident, a Federal Aviation Administration inspector could not examine the brakes because of the instability of the airplane on the jacks and because the wheels were covered in mud. The owner did not make the airplane available for further examination; therefore, the reason for the loss of directional control could not be determined.
Factual narrative
On July 29, 2017, about 0930 eastern daylight time, a Consolidated Aeronautics Lake LA-4-200, N747CB, was substantially damaged during taxi at the Orlando Executive Airport (ORL), Orlando, Florida. The pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local flight. The personal flight was operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.According to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector, the pilot was taxiing the airplane to a hangar, when he lost control and the airplane rolled into a ditch, where it sustained substantial damage to its right wing. The pilot stated during a telephone interview that the airplane's left brake actuator failed. Following the accident, the airplane's brakes were not inspected by FAA inspectors due to the instability of the airplane on jacks, and because the wheels were covered in mud. The owner elected not to make the airplane available for subsequent inspections, and the condition and functionality of the airplane's brakes could not be assessed. The four-seat, low-wing amphibious airplane, was manufactured in 1976. It was powered by a Lycoming IO-360, 180-horsepower engine. According to the airplane's maintenance logbooks, the last annual inspection was completed on January 25, 2007. The recorded tach time was 253.6 hours and the airframe total time was 3311.2 hours.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N747CB
- Reported as
- Consolidated Aeronautics Lake LA 4 (200)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 754
- Built
- 1976
- Airframe hours
- 3,311.2
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 25, 2007
- Departed
- ORL · Orlando, FL
- Destination
- ORL · Orlando, FL
- Airport
- ORL · Executive
- Equipment
- Unknown
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
- 67
- Injuries
- None
- Seat
- Left
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 250° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 25 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.92 inHg
- Observed at
- ORL
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 21, 2019, 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.