No fatalities

28 Mar 2008: Piper PA-28-150 — David S. Baird — Mankato, KS

Mankato, KS, United States

On 28 Mar 2008, a Piper PA-28-150 operated by David S. Baird was involved in an aviation accident near Mankato, KS. No fatalities were reported. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: the student pilot's failure to maintain directional control during the takeoff roll. Contributing factors were the fence and trees. This summary draws on records from NTSB; 2 related events involving the same aircraft type or operator are linked below.

SourcesNTSBPrimary reportUpdated 1778583330Data APIEditorial standards

A student pilot practicing a soft-field takeoff lost visual of the runway, causing the airplane to drift right and strike a fence and trees; the pilot was not injured.

Incident Details

A student pilot was practicing a soft-field takeoff on runway 35. During the takeoff roll, he pulled back on the yoke to lift the nose wheel off the runway. According to the pilot, as the nose rose, he lost visual reference of the runway. Assuming the main landing gear had lifted off, he lowered the nose to increase speed in ground effect. He then realized the airplane had drifted off the right side of the runway. The airplane subsequently impacted a fence and trees before coming to rest upright in a grass field.

Pilot Report

The student pilot, who was the sole occupant, reported the wind was from the east at 5 knots. He stated he had accumulated 43.5 total flight hours. The pilot was not injured in the occurrence.

Aircraft Damage

An examination of the airplane revealed that the horizontal stabilizer was partially separated from the fuselage, and the fuselage was buckled.

Contributing factors

Causes

Directional control — Not attained/maintained

Other contributing factors

Fence/fence postTree(s)