- Date
- February 27, 2001, 14:50 local (22:50 UTC)
- Place
- Ione, CA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N18AWAscher Yakolev YAK 11
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 6, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA Flt Stnds Dist Office
- FAA report
- 20010227003829A
- Case key
- 51829
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 failure of the pilot to maintain directional control during the takeoff run. A factor in the accident was the pilot's lack of total experience in the type aircraft.
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
During takeoff on the 100-foot-wide runway, the experimental racing airplane drifted to the right-hand edge of the runway and then continued off the runway until it struck a berm at the midfield taxiway. Impact with the berm damaged the landing gear and deflected the aircraft to the left and into the air where it traveled back across the runway (airborne). The airplane came to rest in the dirt on the left side of the runway about 3,000 feet from the start of the takeoff roll. The single-seat aircraft, modified for air racing, was assembled from U.S. and Russian aircraft components. The pilot acquired the aircraft about 1 month before the accident and this was his first takeoff in it. There was a left, quartering crosswind at 16 knots with gusts to 22 knots.
Factual narrative
On February 27, 2001, at 1450 hours Pacific standard time, an experimental Ascher YAK 11, N18AW, was substantially damaged when the aircraft veered off the runway and impacted a berm during takeoff at Eagle's Nest private airport, Ione, California. The airline transport certificated pilot, the sole occupant, received minor injuries. The personal flight was operated by the pilot/owner under 14 CFR Part 91, and was destined for Santa Rosa, California. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed.
According to a Federal Aviation Administration inspector, witnesses reported that, during takeoff on runway 1 (paved, 4,000 feet long x 100 feet wide), the aircraft drifted to the right-hand edge of the runway and then continued off the runway until it struck a berm at the midfield taxiway. Impact with the berm damaged the landing gear and deflected the aircraft to the left and into the air where it traveled back across the runway (airborne). The airplane came to rest in the dirt on the left side of the runway about 3,000 feet from the start of the takeoff roll.
The single-seat aircraft, modified for air racing, was assembled from U.S. and Russian aircraft components. The airframe was a Russian-built Yakolev YAK 11, and the engine a U.S.-built Pratt & Whitney R-1830. The pilot acquired the aircraft about 1 month before the accident and this was his first takeoff in it. The surface wind at Mather Field, 16 miles northwest of the accident site, was reported from 320 degrees at 16 knots with gusts to 22 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N18AW
- Reported as
- Ascher Yakolev YAK 11
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 25-111-20
- Airframe hours
- 223
- Engine
- P&W R-1830, 1,350 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- James A. Nezgoda
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 10, 2000 · 4 hours before
- Departed
- Ione
- Destination
- STS · Santa Rosa, CA
- Airport
- PVT · Eagles Nest, runway 1, 4,000 × 100 ft
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
- 60
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Last flight review
- May 1, 2000
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 25,000 total · 65 in this make and model · 24,000 as pilot in command · 10 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 320° at 16 knots, gusting 22
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Altimeter
- 29.87 inHg
- Observed at
- MHR, 18 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.