- Date
- March 18, 2016, 16:15 local (21:15 UTC)
- Place
- Bolingbrook, IL
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N442TBBarnes Thomas A Vans
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 1, 2016
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20160318002019A
- Case key
- 92868
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 direction control during the takeoff roll, which resulted in runway excursion, collision with terrain, and nose over.
Findings · 2
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 of the tailwheel-equipped airplane reported that during the takeoff roll the airplane abruptly turned about 25 degrees to the left. He reduced the power to idle, applied right rudder, but reported that he over corrected to the right. He then applied left rudder to correct for the over correction. The airplane veered off the runway to the left, down an embankment and nosed over, which resulted in substantial damage to the empennage. According to the pilot there were no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot of the tailwheel-equipped airplane reported that during the takeoff roll the airplane abruptly turned about 25 degrees to the left. He reduced the power to idle, applied right rudder, but reported that he over corrected to the right. He then applied left rudder to correct for the over correction. The airplane veered off the runway to the left, down an embankment and nosed over, which resulted in substantial damage to the empennage. According to the pilot there were no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N442TB
- Reported as
- Barnes Thomas A Vans (RV 6)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 23912
- Built
- 2003
- Airframe hours
- 431.9
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A18, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · October 15, 2015
- Departed
- 1C5 · Bolingbrook, IL
- Destination
- JOT · Joliet, IL
- Airport
- 1C5 · Bolingbrook'S Clow Intl, runway 36, 3,362 × 50 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Auto-pilot, Electronic multifunction display, Handheld GPS
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
- 64
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- July 7, 2014
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 354 total · 24.8 in this make and model · 239.6 as pilot in command · 7.6 in the last 90 days · 5.4 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 320° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 5,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 48 °F, dew point 27 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.06 inHg
- Observed at
- KLOT, 6 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 12, 2016, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.6 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.