- Date
- April 21, 1996, 11:45 local (15:45 UTC)
- Place
- Hendersonville, NC
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N78LLLuttrell-Lacky Breezy
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 4, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960421007979A
- Case key
- 38011
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
inadequate preflight planning/preparation by the pilot, by not adequately surveying the area to be used for takeoff, which resulted in a collision with a fence.
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 performed a precautionary landing in a corn field after being unable to locate his planned destination. He determined his position and elected to takeoff, but he did not survey the corn field before takeoff. During the ground roll, the corn rows changed direction, and the airplane failed to become airborne before colliding with a fence.
Factual narrative
On April 21, 1996, about 1145 eastern daylight time, a homebuilt Luttrell-Lacky Breezy, N78LL, registered to a private individual, was substantially damaged on takeoff from a field near Hendersonville, North Carolina. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight. The private-rated pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The flight was originating at the time of the accident.
The pilot stated that he landed uneventfully in a corn field after being unable to locate his destination. He determined his location and maneuvered the airplane to takeoff. He further stated that he did not survey the field before the takeoff attempt. Initially, during the ground roll he was paralleling the corn rows, but the row direction changed and the airplane continued across the corn rows at about a 45-degree angle. The pilot observed a fence ahead and thought the airplane would be airborne before the fence but the airplane remained on the ground and collided with it.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N78LL
- Reported as
- Luttrell-Lacky Breezy
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- SSVTS-001
- Airframe hours
- 575
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-C, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Robert B. Clifton
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 20, 1995 · 12 hours before
- Departed
- NONE
- Destination
- NC33 · NC
- Airport
- NC33 · Ritter Airpark
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
- 44
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 248 total · 10 in this make and model · 183 as pilot in command · 64 in the last 90 days · 33 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 350° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- AVL
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.