- Date
- July 11, 2000, 19:45 local (23:45 UTC)
- Place
- Grafton, OH
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N51941Fairchild M-62
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 19, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20000711042979A
- Case key
- 49679
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 control of the airplane while taking off.
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
While taking off on a sod runway, the airplane became airborne at an airspeed of about 75 mph. As the airplane climbed to an altitude of about 30-40 feet above the ground, the pilot 'flattened' the climb angle to gain more airspeed. The nose of the airplane then fell and the wing dropped. The airplane descended and impacted the ground. The uncertificated pilot reported about 300 total hours of flight experience, with about 100 hours in make and model.
Factual narrative
On July 11, 2000, about 1945 Eastern Daylight Time, a Fairchild M-62, N51941, was substantially damaged while climbing out from a private airstrip near Grafton, Ohio. The non-certificated pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local personal flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
According to the pilot, he was taking off to the east on a 1,813-foot long, sod runway. The airplane became airborne about 1,200 feet down the runway, at an airspeed of about 75 mph. As the airplane climbed to an altitude of about 30-40 feet above the ground, the pilot "flattened" the climb angle to gain more airspeed. The nose of the airplane then fell and the wing dropped. The airplane descended, impacted the ground, and came to rest upright.
The pilot additionally stated that the stall speed for the airplane was about 60 mph.
The pilot reported he had accumulated about 300 total hours of flight experience, with about 100 hours in make and model.
The pilot did not report any mechanical difficulties with the airplane.
The winds reported at an airport located about 11 miles to the northeast of the accident site, at 1951, were from 040 degrees at 12 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N51941
- Reported as
- Fairchild M-62
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- T421838
- Airframe hours
- 1,900
- Engine
- Ranger 6-440, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Raymond G. Sharick
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 30, 1989 · 30 hours before
- Departed
- NONE
- Airport
- NONE · Brechfields Shab'S, runway 9, 1,813 × 75 ft, grass/turf
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
- 73
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 300 total · 100 in this make and model · 2 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 40° at 12 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- CLE, 11 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.