- Date
- July 17, 1999, 09:30 local (15:30 UTC)
- Place
- Glenns Ferry, ID
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N704AXCessna 150M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 30, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19990717009209A
- Case key
- 46983
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 attempted takeoff. A related factor was the pilot's lack of recent experience.
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 departed for the flight without a current medical certificate or flight review. After reaching his destination, the pilot performed a landing on a hard packed dirt road. During a subsequent takeoff attempt from the road, the pilot lost directional control of the aircraft and veered off the road surface. The aircraft impacted terrain adjacent to the road. The pilot reported that no mechanical failure or malfunction was involved, and a post-accident inspection of the aircraft revealed no indication of mechanical failure.
Factual narrative
On July 17, 1999, approximately 0930 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 150M, N704AX, was substantially damaged during an attempted takeoff from a dirt road approximately 10 miles north of Glenns Ferry, Idaho. The private pilot-in-command, who was the aircraft's owner and sole occupant, was not injured in the accident. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR 91 personal flight. The aircraft departed Caldwell Industrial Airport, Caldwell, Idaho, about 1 hour prior to the accident. There was no fire, and no report of an ELT activation.
The pilot departed for the cross country flight without a current medical certificate or a current flight review. After reaching his destination, the pilot performed a landing on a hard packed dirt road. The pilot reported that during a subsequent takeoff attempt from the road, he lost control of the aircraft and it veered off the road surface. The aircraft impacted terrain adjacent to the road; its left wing and fuselage were substantially damaged. The pilot reported on his NTSB accident report that no mechanical malfunction or failure was involved in the accident.
A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector from the Boise, Idaho, Flight Standards District Office, inspected the wreckage and reported there was no indication of a mechanical failure.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N704AX
- Reported as
- Cessna 150M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15078469
- Airframe hours
- 3,085
- Engine
- Continental O-200, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Lorrie E. Mecham
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 1, 1999 · 60 hours before
- Departed
- EUL · Caldwell, ID
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
- 59
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Expired
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,600 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BOI, 50 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.