- Date
- April 10, 2024, 14:15 local (18:15 UTC)
- Place
- East Amherst, NY
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N107RWHaring Robert C Zenith CH601XLB
- 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
- 20240410003969A
- Case key
- 194072
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 and his decision to continue the takeoff from the soft turf runway.
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
The airplane was departing from a wet, turf runway. The pilot reported that during the departure roll the airplane began to veer to the right and was not travelling fast enough when he attempted to takeoff. The airplane’s nose gear settled back onto the runway, it then sank into the soft turf, and the airplane nosed over. The airplane came to rest inverted and sustained substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer and rudder. The pilot further reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot also stated that he should have aborted the takeoff, but “thought he could power through the drifting and get the aircraft off the ground.”
Aircraft
- Registration
- N107RW
- Reported as
- Haring Robert C Zenith CH601XLB
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 6-4843
- Built
- 2012
- Airframe hours
- 252
- Engine
- Jabiru 3300A, 107 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · August 1, 2023 · 8 hours before
- Destination
- 9G3 · Akron, NY
- Airport
- D51 · Clarence Aerodrome, runway 10/28, 2,500 × 67 ft, grass/turf
- 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
- 82
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Sport pilot
- Last flight review
- October 27, 2022
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 758 total · 252 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 59 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.96 inHg
- Observed at
- KBUF, 8 nm away
- METAR
- KBUF 101754Z 21009KT 10SM FEW007 FEW070 FEW110 BKN250 15/10 A2996 RMK AO2 SLP147 60002 T01500100 10150 20111 56000
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 21, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 10.7 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.