- Date
- September 12, 1998, 11:00 local (16:00 UTC)
- Place
- Tahlequah, OK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N8548KStinson 108-1
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 16, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980912023799A
- Case key
- 43918
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 of the aircraft during takeoff. A factor was the gusty wind conditions at the time of the accident.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The pilot lost control of the airplane during takeoff from runway 17 when a gust of wind pitched the airplane to a 25-30 degrees nose up attitude and rolled the airplane right. The pilot lowered the nose of the aircraft; however, the airplane drifted to the right side of the runway where it impacted the ground with the right wing and subsequently came to rest inverted. The nearest weather observation facility is located at Davis Field near Muskogee, Oklahoma, which is 23 nautical miles southwest of Tahlequah Municipal Airport. At 0953 the facility recorded the winds at 110 degrees at 14 knots, gusting to 23 knots. A witness stated that he saw 'dust devils' in the vicinity of the airport at the time of the accident.
Factual narrative
On September 12, 1998, at 1100 central daylight time, a Stinson 108-1 tail-wheel equipped airplane, N8548K, was substantially damaged upon impact with the ground during takeoff from the Tahlequah Municipal Airport near Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The non-instrument rated commercial pilot, who was the owner of the airplane, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a flight plan was not filed for the Title 14 CFR Part 91 flight destined for Okemah, Oklahoma.
During a telephone interview, conducted by the investigator-in-charge, the pilot stated that an annual inspection had just been completed on the airplane and he planned to fly the airplane back to its home base. The pilot stated that the run-up and systems check were normal.
The pilot stated that during the takeoff roll from runway 17, approximately at rotation speed, a "gust of wind pitched the nose up 25-30 degrees and raised the left wing." The pilot lowered the nose but the airplane drifted to the right side of the runway where it impacted the ground with the right wing, rolled over to the right, impacted the left wing and came to rest inverted.
Examination of the aircraft by the FAA inspector revealed no anomalies in the flight control system. The FAA inspector confirmed that the vertical stabilizer and wing spars were bent and the right wing lift strut was broken.
The FAA inspector interviewed a witness that stated he saw "dust devils" in the vicinity of the airport at the time of the accident.
The nearest weather observation facility is located at Davis Field near Muskogee, Oklahoma, which is 23 nautical miles southwest of Tahlequah Municipal Airport. At 0953 the facility recorded the winds at 110 degrees at 14 knots, gusting to 23 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8548K
- Reported as
- Stinson 108-1
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1548
- Airframe hours
- 2,916
- Engine
- Franklin 6A4150 B-3, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Herbert Rakestraw
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 9, 1998 · 0 hours before
- Departed
- H73
- Destination
- F81 · Okemah, OK
- Airport
- H73 · Tahlequah, runway 17, 4,000 × 75 ft, asphalt
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
- 71
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,211 total · 70 in this make and model · 4 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 110° at 14 knots, gusting 23
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MKO, 23 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.