- Date
- May 4, 2023, 14:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Knoxville, TN
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N26941Gulfstream American AA-5A
- 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
- FAA report
- 20230504007789A
- Case key
- 139289
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 in gusting wind conditions.
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 student pilot was departing on her third solo flight. During the takeoff the airplane began drifting to the left and the pilot attempted to correct with right rudder application. The pilot said that it then felt as if the airplane encountered a gust of wind that pushed it to the left off the runway and into the grass. The airplane’s left wing struck a runway approach light and was substantially damaged. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N26941
- Reported as
- Gulfstream American AA-5A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- AA5A0839
- Built
- 1979
- Airframe hours
- 3,577.02
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2G, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Fast Track Flight Training
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · March 21, 2023
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- DKX · Knoxville Downtown Island, runway 26, 3,499 × 75 ft, asphalt
- 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
- 33
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 49.2 total · 49.2 in this make and model · 2.2 as pilot in command · 46 in the last 90 days · 11.4 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 5 knots, gusting 10
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 41 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.03 inHg
- Observed at
- DKX
- METAR
- KDKX 041755Z AUTO 24005G10KT 10SM CLR 20/05 A3003 RMK A01
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 29, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 5.4 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.