- Date
- April 28, 2014, 10:40 local (17:40 UTC)
- Place
- Monterey, CA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N923LAEvektor-Aerotechnik Sportstar Plus
- Defining event
- Taxi: Ground collision
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 18, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- FAA report
- 20140428006229A
- Case key
- 89134
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 sport pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control during taxi as a result of improperly manipulating the engine power.
Findings · 5
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 sport pilot landed the airplane and was taxiing to his hangar. He maneuvered the airplane to position it for a push back when he was confused by the engine controls and added power instead of reducing power. The airplane taxied off the movement area, down into a ditch colliding with terrain. The firewall and forward fuselage sustained substantial damage during the impact sequence. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The sport pilot had just landed after completing a local flight. He reported that while taxiing his airplane to position it for a push back into his hangar, he advanced power instead of reducing power. The airplane taxied off the movement area, down into a ditch colliding with terrain adjacent a taxi-way. The firewall and forward fuselage was substantially damaged. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N923LA
- Reported as
- Evektor-Aerotechnik Sportstar Plus (NO SERIES)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 20070923
- Built
- 2007
- Airframe hours
- 2,200
- Engine
- Rotax 912ULS, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Special light-sport (Special)
- Departed
- MRY · Monterey, CA
- Destination
- MRY · Monterey, CA
- Airport
- MRY · Monterey Peninsula, runway 28L, 7,616 × 150 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
- 82
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Sport pilot, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- October 3, 2013
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 1,791 total · 38 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 59 °F, dew point 41 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.21 inHg
- Observed at
- KMRY, 1 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 5, 2014, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.2 MB 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.