- Date
- June 8, 2003, 08:30 local (12:30 UTC)
- Place
- Culpeper, VA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N92WACessna 150
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 28, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20030608017739A
- Case key
- 57156
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 on the runway during takeoff.
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 the takeoff roll, the student pilot "lost control" of the airplane, and could not maintain centerline alignment. The airplane ran off the side of the runway, and came to rest in a ditch. The student pilot reported there were no wind gusts, and he experienced no mechanical anomalies with the airplane.
Factual narrative
On June 8, 2003, about 0830 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 150, N92WA, was substantially damaged during takeoff from Culpeper Regional Airport (CJR), Culpeper, Virginia. The student pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local solo instructional flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
The student pilot initiated a takeoff from runway 04, a 4,002 foot-long, and 75 foot-wide runway. The student pilot stated that during the takeoff roll, he "lost control" of the airplane, and could not maintain centerline alignment. The airplane ran off the side of the runway, and came to rest in a ditch. The student pilot reported there were no wind gusts, and he experienced no mechanical anomalies with the airplane.
Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector revealed substantial damage to the left wing spar. No pre-impact mechanical anomalies were observed.
The winds reported at an airport about 20 miles to the northeast, at 0810, were from 020 degrees at 3 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N92WA
- Reported as
- Cessna 150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15073770
- Airframe hours
- 6,034
- Engine
- Continental O-200, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Ted Williams
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 6, 2003 · 1 hours before
- Departed
- CJR · Culpeper, VA
- Destination
- CJR
- Airport
- CJR · Culpeper Regional Airport, runway 04, 4,002 × 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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 48
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 50 total · 26 in this make and model · 14 as pilot in command · 1 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 20° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,100 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 59 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.90 inHg
- Observed at
- HEF, 20 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.