- Date
- September 23, 2019, 08:30 local (13:30 UTC)
- Place
- Rose Hill, KS
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N1398Thomas Lee Nieuport 11
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 17, 2020
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20190923015409A
- Case key
- 100318
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 during takeoff, which resulted in a runway excursion and an impact with runway lights.
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
The pilot reported that, during takeoff, he added power, and the biplane veered left, which he was unable to "check." The biplane veered off the runway to the left and impacted precision approach path indicator lights, spun 180°, and came to rest in grass adjacent to the runway. The biplane sustained substantial damage to the lower right wing. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the biplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot of the tailwheel-equipped biplane reported that, during takeoff, he added power and the airplane veered left, which he was unable to "check." The airplane veered off the runway to the left and impacted the precision approach path indicator (PAPI) lights, spun 180°, and came to rest in the grass adjacent to the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the lower right wing. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The automated weather observation station, located 5 miles to the northwest, reported that, about 5 minutes after the accident, the wind was calm. The pilot was departing runway 17.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1398
- Reported as
- Thomas Lee Nieuport 11
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1398
- Built
- 1988
- Airframe hours
- 397.4
- Engine
- Lycoming O-145-B2, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · August 26, 2019
- Departed
- K50 · Rose Hill, KS
- Destination
- K50 · Rose Hill, KS
- Airport
- K50 · Cook Airfield, runway 17, 3,472 × 40 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- None
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
- 81
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Sport pilot
- Last flight review
- July 1, 2019
- Seat
- Single
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 3,460 total · 272 in this make and model · 3,460 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 46 °F, dew point 19 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.22 inHg
- Observed at
- KIAB, 5 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 21, 2019, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 5.2 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.