- Date
- June 15, 2003, 11:15 local (17:15 UTC)
- Place
- Lewistown, MT
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N4TDCessna T337G
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 2, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA-FSDO
- FAA report
- 20030615012959A
- Case key
- 57619
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 prior to takeoff, and the pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control during the takeoff. An inadvertent stall and rough terrain were factors.
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 when he landed on the airstrip, he had trimmed the aircraft for a short field landing. During the takeoff, he reported that he did not retrim the aircraft and during the takeoff ground run, the control yoke came back into his lap. The aircraft lifted off briefly, then stalled with the left wing down. The pilot aborted the takeoff and reduced power. The aircraft traveled off the north side of the runway and crossed a rough wheat field. The aircraft came to rest over an embankment along side a dirt road.
Factual narrative
On June 15, 2003, approximately 1115 mountain daylight time, a Cessna T337G, N4TD, registered to and operated by the pilot as a 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight, collided with rough terrain during an aborted takeoff from a private airstrip located seven miles southwest of Lewistown, Montana. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed. The aircraft was substantially damaged and the private pilot and his passenger were not injured.
During a telephone interview, the pilot reported that when he landed at the airstrip, he had trimmed the aircraft for a soft field landing. For the takeoff, he reported that he did not retrim the aircraft and during the takeoff ground run, the control yoke came back into his lap. The aircraft lifted off briefly, then stalled with the left wing down. The pilot aborted the takeoff and reduced power. The aircraft traveled off the north side of the runway and crossed a rough wheat field. The aircraft came to rest over an embankment along side a dirt road.
The right main landing gear was sheared off, the outboard section of the right wing contacted the surface, the right side boom was displaced from the empennage and the bottom ends of the vertical fin on both the right and left side were crushed upward.
To date, the pilot has not turned in the National Transportation Safety Board Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report form 6120.1/2.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4TD
- Reported as
- Cessna T337G
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- P337-0093
- Airframe hours
- 3,019
- Engine
- Continental TSIO-360-CB3, 225 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Kenneth D. Tolliver
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 9, 2002
- Departed
- Lewistown, MT
- Destination
- BIL · Billings, MT
- Airport
- Beacon Star, runway 30, 3,700 × ft
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
- 57
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 750 total · 450 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.12 inHg
- Observed at
- LWT, 7 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.