- Date
- September 5, 2008, 18:30 local (Sep 6, 2008, 00:30 UTC)
- Place
- Harper, OR
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N208APTaylorcraft F19
- Defining event
- Initial climb: Collision during takeoff/land
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 22, 2009
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20080905843789A
- Case key
- 68885
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 clearance from a tree during the takeoff initial climb.
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 said that he was departing from a private, soft, dirt airstrip. He asked the airstrip's owner for his departure recommendation, which was to stay on the left side of the 12-foot-wide airstrip. Immediately after liftoff, the left wing tip struck a tree branch, and the airplane rotated 90 degrees as it fell to the ground. The outboard 3 feet of the left wing was crushed by the impact and the fuselage, firewall, and rudder were wrinkled and/or bent.
Factual narrative
The pilot said that he was departing from a private, soft, dirt airstrip. He asked the airstrip's owner for his departure recommendation, which was to stay on the left side of the 12-foot-wide airstrip. Immediately after liftoff, the left wing tip struck a tree branch, and the airplane rotated 90 degrees as it fell to the ground. The outboard 3 feet of the left wing was crushed by the impact and the fuselage, firewall, and rudder were wrinkled and/or bent.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N208AP
- Reported as
- Taylorcraft F19
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- F-105
- Engine
- Continental O-200, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Standard, Utility
- Departed
- NONE · Harper, OR
- Destination
- NONE · Harper, OR
- Airport
- NONE · Butler Ranch, runway 09, 2,200 × 12 ft, dirt
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
- 38
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 1, 2007
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 961 total · 833 in this make and model · 18 in the last 90 days · 14 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ONO
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.