- Date
- May 7, 2023, 21:35 local (May 8, 2023, 01:35 UTC)
- Place
- Hernando, FL
- Injuries
- 2 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N150VLCessna 150M
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Collision during takeoff/land
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20230507006819A
- Case key
- 114705
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 adequate clearance from obstacles during takeoff at night.
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 stated that he and the pilot-rated passenger were practicing full-stop landings from the turf runway on a dark, moonless night. The passenger had already completed three full-stop landings and he had completed two. The accident flight was going to be his last landing. During a takeoff, he lost visual reference of the tree line along the side of the runway and contacted some treetops. The airplane subsequently impacted the ground and the leading edges of the wings, and fuselage were substantially damaged. The pilot and the passenger were seriously injured. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N150VL
- Reported as
- Cessna 150M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15076672
- Built
- 1975
- Airframe hours
- 9,408
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, 100 hp, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Flying Low Engineering Inc
- Registered owner
- Flying Low Engineering Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · March 1, 2023
- Airport
- 5FL7 · Twelve Oaks, runway 4, 2,600 × 100 ft, grass/turf
- Equipment
- 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
- 79
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- BasicMed, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- December 1, 2022
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 10,360 total · 3,200 in this make and model · 10,069 as pilot in command · 40 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Wind
- 130° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.13 inHg
- Observed at
- INF, 9 nm away
- METAR
- KINF 080135Z AUTO 13003KT 7SM CLR 23/16 A3013 RMK AO2
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 7, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 5.6 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.