- Date
- March 22, 1996, 13:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Mesquite, NV
- Injuries
- 3 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N7118NBeech E33A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 20, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960322004939A
- Case key
- 29393
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 poor judgment in attempting to take off in the existing wind conditions.
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
The pilot reported that he was departing on runway 19. Both the pilot and ground witnesses stated that the winds were from 250 degrees at 25 knots with sustained gusts to 35. As the aircraft neared liftoff airspeed, it began to drift to the left. The pilot said he pulled the aircraft off the ground at that point and the left drift increased. The aircraft drifted completely off the runway and the landing gear contacted an airport boundary fence. The aircraft then cartwheeled into an adjoining field. The crosswind components for the reported steady state and gust values were computed at 23 and 31 knots, respectively. According to the Beech Pilot Operating Handbook for the airplane, the maximum demonstrated crosswind component for the aircraft in takeoffs or landings is 17 knots.
Factual narrative
On March 22, 1996, at 1246 hours Pacific standard time, a Beech E33A, N7118N, collided with a fence and the ground during takeoff at the Mesquite, Nevada, airport. The aircraft was owned and operated by the pilot, who was beginning a personal cross-country flight to Denver, Colorado. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed. The aircraft sustained substantial damage. The private pilot and the two passengers onboard sustained minor injuries.
The pilot reported that he was departing on runway 19. Both the pilot and ground witnesses stated that the winds were from 250 degrees at 25 knots with sustained gusts to 35. As the aircraft neared liftoff airspeed, it began to drift to the left. The pilot said he pulled the aircraft off the ground at that point and the left drift increased. The aircraft drifted completely off the runway and the landing gear contacted an airport boundary fence. The aircraft then cartwheeled into an adjoining field.
The crosswind components for the reported steady state and gust values were computed at 23 and 31 knots, respectively. According to the Beech Pilot Operating Handbook for the airplane, the maximum demonstrated crosswind component for the aircraft in takeoffs or landings is 17 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7118N
- Reported as
- Beech E33A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- CE-194
- Airframe hours
- 3,365
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-B, 285 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Richard D. Ansay
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 17, 1995 · 31 hours before
- Departed
- 67L
- Destination
- BJC · Denver, CO
- Airport
- 67L · Mesquite, runway 19, 4,569 × 75 ft, asphalt
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
- 50
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 307 total · 148 in this make and model · 307 as pilot in command · 18 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 250° at 25 knots, gusting 35
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.