- Date
- July 19, 1994, 15:15 local (21:15 UTC)
- Place
- Rexberg, ID
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N686CEEiriavion PIK20D-78
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 26, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940719019369A
- Case key
- 41981
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 aborted takeoff. Factors include a vehicle parked near the runway.
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 an unassisted (no wing-runner) takeoff, the pilot elected to abort after the glider began drifting to the side of the runway. After the abort, the pilot was unable to maintain directional control, and the aircraft departed the runway, and impacted a nearby maintenance truck.
Factual narrative
On July 19, 1994, at 1515 mountain daylight time (MDT), a Eiriavion Oy PIK20D-78, N686CE, collided with a truck during an aborted takeoff at Madison County Airport, Rexburg, Idaho. The pilot of the single-place glider was not injured, but the aircraft sustained substantial damage. The personal pleasure flight, which was intended to land back at the point of departure, was being operated in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan had been filed, and there was no report of an ELT activation.
According to the pilot, he was attempting an unassisted (no wing- runner) towed takeoff, when the glider began drifting to the side of the runway. He therefore elected to release the tow line and abort the takeoff. After initiating the abort, the aircraft began to swerve, and ultimately departed the side of the runway. As it departed the runway, the aircraft impacted a runway light, and came to rest after colliding with a truck being used for airfield electrical maintenance.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N686CE
- Reported as
- Eiriavion PIK20D-78
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 20644
- Airframe hours
- 240
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Whitesell, Albert L.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 6, 1994 · 13 hours before
- Airport
- U11 · Madison County Airport, runway 17, 4,200 × 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
- 33
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 152 total · 13 in this make and model · 84 as pilot in command · 28 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 90 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.