- Date
- May 12, 2001, 19:40 local (23:40 UTC)
- Place
- Elizabethtown, KY
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N6899WPiper PA-28-140
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 13, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20010512010889A
- Case key
- 52263
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 directional control during the takeoff roll.
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 a takeoff attempt, just before liftoff, the airplane began to veer to the left. The pilot applied right rudder with no effect. When he saw that the airplane was going to veer off the runway, he closed the throttle and applied both brakes. The airplane continued off the runway, through the median between the runway and the taxiway, over the taxiway, and into a ditch. The pilot did not report any mechanical difficulties with the airplane. Weather at an airport 60 miles to the north included winds 30 degrees to the left of the pilot's takeoff runway, at 11 knots.
Factual narrative
On May 12, 2001, about 1940 Eastern Daylight Time, a Piper PA-28-140, N6899W, was substantially damaged when it veered off the runway during a takeoff attempt at Addington Field (EKX), Elizabethtown, Kentucky. The certificated private pilot received minor injuries, and his passenger was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. No flight plan had been filed for the local personal flight, which was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
According to the pilot, he was attempting to take off from Runway 05. Everything appeared normal until just before liftoff, when the airplane began to veer to the left. The pilot applied right rudder with no effect. When he saw that the airplane was going to veer off the runway, he closed the throttle and applied both brakes. The airplane continued off the runway, through the median between the runway and the taxiway, over the taxiway, and into a ditch. The pilot did not report any mechanical difficulties with the airplane. The pilot also reported the weather was "clear, the runway was dry, the wind was light and not a factor."
Weather, recorded at an airport 60 miles to the north about the time of the accident, included winds from 020, at 11 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6899W
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-140
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-21062
- Airframe hours
- 4,431
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Willaim T. Tabb
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 14, 2000 · 7 hours before
- Departed
- EKX · Elizabethtown, KY
- Airport
- EKX · Addington Field, runway 05, 5,000 × 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
- 75
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- February 2, 2000
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 627 total · 557 in this make and model · 3 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 20° at 11 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.18 inHg
- Observed at
- SDF, 60 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.