- Date
- September 5, 2020, 16:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Villa Rica, GA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N232PAZenith CH650LS
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- Case key
- 101944
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 the landing roll.
Findings · 1
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 reported that the takeoff roll was normal until the airplane reached a speed of about 40-45 knots, when the right rudder pedal suddenly felt “soft” followed by a sudden uncommanded swerve to the left. He attempted to correct the swerve with full right rudder and right brake but was unsuccessful. The airplane departed the runway, the pilot applied both brakes “heavily,” and the airplane nosed over coming to rest inverted. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left side of the fuselage aft of the wing. The pilot suspected a possible steering malfunction, however, a postaccident examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration Inspector was unable to discover any defects of the steering mechanism.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N232PA
- Reported as
- Zenith CH650LS (No Series)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 650-104
- Built
- 2008
- Airframe hours
- 371
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A82, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Zodiac Jockeys Llc
- Registered owner
- Zodiac Jockeys Llc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Special light-sport (Special); Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 27, 2020 · 13 hours before
- Airport
- 20GA · Earl L Small Jr Fld/Stockmar, runway 28, 4,500 × 50 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, Handheld GPS, Electronic multifunction display, ADS-B
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
- 72
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Sport pilot, Unknown
- Last flight review
- August 11, 2020
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 1,021 total · 168 in this make and model · 909 as pilot in command · 13 in the last 90 days · 13 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.22 inHg
- Observed at
- PUJ, 10 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KPUJ 051955Z AUTO 36007KT 10SM CLR 29/10 A3022 RMK AO2=
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 26, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.2 MB in all.