# NTSB ERA25LA133: Diamond Aircraft Ind DA20-C1, N373AM, Culpeper, VA, February 15, 2025 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Class 4 · Limited · Final report - Date: February 15, 2025, 14:30 UTC - Place: Culpeper, VA - Coordinates: 38.531039, -77.855456 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=38.5310&lon=-77.8555&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Takeoff](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/300) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Defining event: [Takeoff: Loss of control on ground](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/230) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 1 uninjured - 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 - NTSB case key (mKey): 199792 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ERA25LA133 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/199792/pdf - NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=199792 - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA25LA133 ## Probable cause The pilot’s failure to maintain directional control of the airplane during the takeoff roll, resulting in a runway excursion. ## Findings NTSB's coded findings; those marked are part of the probable cause. - [Use of equip/info: aircraft control](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040): Personnel issues › Task performance · Pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Diamond Aircraft Ind DA20-C1, 37 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040/cases.md?model=2990001), [All aircraft, 9,295 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040/cases.md) - [Performance/control parameters: directional control](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062020): Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability · Attain/maintain not possible (probable cause); cases with it: [Diamond Aircraft Ind DA20-C1, 10 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062020/cases.md?model=2990001), [All aircraft, 3,958 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062020/cases.md) ## Sequence of events The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened. - [Takeoff: Loss of control on ground](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/230) (defining event); cases with it: [Diamond Aircraft Ind DA20-C1, 11 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/230/sequence.md?model=2990001), [All aircraft, 4,585 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/230/sequence.md) - [Takeoff-rejected takeoff: Runway excursion](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/300); cases with it: [Diamond Aircraft Ind DA20-C1, 13 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/300/sequence.md?model=2990001), [All aircraft, 3,643 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/300/sequence.md) ## Analysis Following an uneventful flight and taxi back to the runway, the student pilot reported that when he applied takeoff power, the airplane began to veer to the left. He applied right rudder, but the control input was ineffective. He then reduced the power to idle and applied both brakes, but the airplane exited the left side of the runway and came to rest in a drainage ditch. The pilot was uninjured, and the airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and empennage. Postaccident examination by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the flight controls, braking system, or the nose wheel that would have precluded normal operation. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N373AM](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N373AM), registered now, S/N C0379, built 2006 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: DIAMOND AIRCRAFT IND INC DA20-C1 - Registry model: [Diamond Aircraft Ind DA20-C1](https://openairdocs.org/model/diamond-aircraft-ind-da20-c1) (registry code 2990001) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Continental IO-240-B](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-io-240-b) (registry code 17177, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: C0379 - Year built: 2006 - Airframe hours: 5702.6 - Engines: Continental Aerospace Technologies IO-240-b 125 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Instructional, Part 91 - Operator: Ka Holdings LLC - Registered owner: Ka Holdings LLC - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Last inspection: 100 hour, January 7, 2025, 56.9 hours before - Departed: FEF, Manassas, VA - Destination: CJR, Culpepper, VA - Flight plan: VFR - Airport: CJR, Culpeper Rgnl, runway 22, 5,000 × 100 ft, asphalt - Equipment: Stall warning system ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 21; injuries: none; student; medical: class 1, without waivers/limitations; seat: left; restraint: 4-point; flight hours: 37.7 total, 35.3 in this make and model, 0.7 as pilot in command, 3.9 in the last 90 days, 0 in the last 30 days, 0 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 170° at 3 knots - Visibility: 5 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: 2,700 ft overcast - Temperature: 36 °F, dew point 32 °F - Altimeter: 30.18 inHg - Observed at: CJR - METAR: METAR KCJR 151935Z AUTO 17003KT 5SM UP OVC027 02/00 A3018 RMK AO2 P0003 T00220000 ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20250215002709A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20250215002709A), Feb 15, 2025: Diamond Aircraft Ind Inc DA20-C1, Culpepper, VA, Substantial damage. That morning of the flight, before departure from khef, the student's flight instructor endorsed and signed his solo cross country to another airport. At the… ## Docket (3 files) The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 21, 2025, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=199792. 1.7 MB in all. - Pilot/operator aircraft accident report, NTSB form 6120.1 (item 1, PDF, 11 pages, 307 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=18602565&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=6120.1_Redacted-Rel.pdf - Memorandum of record - inspector (item 2, PDF, 1 page, 119 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=18704476&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=MOR%20Inspectors%20statement-Rel.pdf - Investigation photographs (item 3, PDF, 5 pages, 1.3 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=18761322&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=Investigation%20photographs-Rel.pdf From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.