- Date
- April 21, 2018, 12:30 local (17:30 UTC)
- Place
- Iola, WI
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N1807VCessna 120
- Defining event
- Takeoff-rejected takeoff: Collision during takeoff/land
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 24, 2018
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20180421003949A
- Case key
- 97073
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 decision to reject the takeoff from a snow-covered grass surface, which resulted in a nose-over.
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
According to the pilot in the tailwheel-equipped airplane with 26-inch bush tires installed, he intended to perform several ground runs to pack the wet, snow-covered grass surface and then take off. During the start of the first ground run, the airplane accelerated quickly, and the pilot decided to take off. He reported that he believed that the airplane had entered an area of deeper snow and "thought it would be safer and more conservative to stop." He did not realize the airplane had become airborne. The pilot decreased the throttle to idle, and the airplane then decelerated and nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right-wing lift strut. In the recommendation section of the National Transportation Safety Board Pilot Aircraft Accident Report, the pilot asserted that the accident could have been prevented if he had "assumed that the conditions were unacceptable as I could not ascertain with absolute certainty that the surface was acceptable." The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
According to the pilot in the tailwheel-equipped airplane with 26" bush tires installed, his intent was to perform several ground runs to pack the wet snow-covered grass surface, and then takeoff. During the start of the first ground run, the airplane accelerated quickly, and the pilot decided to takeoff. He reported that he did not realize the airplane had become airborne, rather, he believed that the airplane had entered an area of deeper snow, and he "thought it would be safer and more conservative to stop." The pilot decreased the throttle to idle, the airplane decelerated and nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right-wing lift strut. Per the National Transportation Safety Board, Pilot Aircraft Accident Report, in the Recommendation section, the pilot asserted that the accident could have been prevented if he had, "assumed that the conditions were unacceptable as I could not ascertain with absolute certainty that the surface was acceptable." The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1807V
- Reported as
- Cessna 120 (NO SERIES)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 13992
- Built
- 1947
- Airframe hours
- 3,153
- Engine
- Continental C85, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 12, 2017
- Departed
- W23 · Wild Rose, WI
- Destination
- 68C · Iola, WI
- Airport
- 68C · Central County, runway 27, 1,800 × 120 ft, grass/turf
- Equipment
- 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
- 39
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- December 3, 2017
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 10,425 total · 350 in this make and model · 4,701 as pilot in command · 276 in the last 90 days · 103 in the last 30 days · 1.5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 130° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point 16 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.42 inHg
- Observed at
- KPCZ, 10 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 28, 2018, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.8 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.