- Date
- October 26, 2013, 17:15 local (23:15 UTC)
- Place
- Twin Falls, ID
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N83417Piper PA 18-150
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Loss of engine power (partial)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 19, 2013
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Adminstration FSDO
- FAA report
- 20131026020069A
- Case key
- 88315
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 loss of aircraft control during the rejected takeoff.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot of the tailwheel-equipped airplane had just completed an uneventful local flight, taking off and landing in a ploughed field adjacent to the home of his friend. A short time later he prepared for the return flight to his home base, and prior to departure he moved his seat forward to accommodate the passenger behind. During the takeoff roll he inadvertently moved the mixture control with his left knee, and the engine began to lose power. He aborted the takeoff, and as he applied brake pressure, the airplane nosed over, which resulted in substantial damage to the wings and fuselage. The airplane had recently been rebuilt, with the mixture control positioned in the lower left corner of the instrument panel, just above the pilot's left knee. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot of the tailwheel-equipped airplane had just completed an uneventful local flight, taking off and landing in a ploughed field adjacent to the home of his friend. A short time later he prepared for the return flight to his home base, and prior to departure he moved his seat forward to accommodate the passenger behind. During the takeoff roll he inadvertently moved the mixture control with his left knee, and the engine began to lose power. He aborted the takeoff, and as he applied brake pressure, the airplane nosed over, which resulted in substantial damage to the wings and fuselage. The airplane had recently been rebuilt, with the mixture control positioned in the lower left corner of the instrument panel, just above the pilot's left knee. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N83417
- Reported as
- Piper PA 18-150 (A150)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-7909027
- Built
- 1978
- Airframe hours
- 14
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360 SERIES, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 26, 2013 · 14 hours before
- Departed
- Twin Falls, ID
- Destination
- LGU · Logan, UT
- Equipment
- Stall warning system
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
- 60
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- January 1, 2013
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 670 total · 393.6 in this make and model · 672 as pilot in command · 21 in the last 90 days · 13.1 in the last 30 days · 2.2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.23 inHg
- Observed at
- KTWF, 6 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 9, 2013, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 673 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.