- Date
- June 24, 2020, 11:30 local (17:30 UTC)
- Place
- Liberty, UT
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N18XXCapella XLS
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Collision during takeoff/land
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20200624008429A
- Case key
- 101493
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 clearance from a fence post during the initial climb.
Findings · 2
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 departing for the first time from the 750-ft-long, private grass field. During the initial climb, the right main landing gear contacted a steel fence post at the end of the runway. The airplane pitched nose down, yawed, and rolled slightly to the right. The pilot corrected with left aileron and rudder control, but the airplane cartwheeled and impacted a small shed. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings and the fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N18XX
- Reported as
- Capella XLS
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1
- Built
- 2013
- Airframe hours
- 350
- Engine
- Rotax ULS 912, 100 hp, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · April 3, 2020 · 5 hours before
- Departed
- Liberty, UT
- Destination
- Liberty, UT
- Equipment
- ADS-B
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
- 58
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 18, 2019
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 107 total · 2.4 in this make and model · 66.9 as pilot in command · 23.3 in the last 90 days · 16.8 in the last 30 days · 1.3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 82 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.12 inHg
- Observed at
- KOGD, 10 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 6, 2020, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.0 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.