Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Columbia Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Columbia, Illinois 62236
Saturday, September 6, 2003 15:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The amateur-built airplane was substantially damaged during an aborted takeoff when, under maximum braking, it veered off the runway, encountered soft terrain, and flipped over. The pilot reported that during the takeoff roll the pilot side cabin door inadvertently opened. His attempt to secure the door was not successful and he initiated an aborted takeoff. According to the pilot's statement, the aircraft touched down in a "fast taxi roll" with very little runway remaining. He noted that when he applied maximum braking effort, the aircraft "veered off [the] runway" and encountered soft terrain. The nose gear and left main landing gear collapsed and the aircraft subsequently flipped over. The pilot stated that he verified the door was closed and latched as part of the before takeoff checklist procedure. Although the cabin door was damaged during the accident, the pilot reported there were no anomalies with the door latching mechanism consistent with a pre-impact failure.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during an aborted takeoff. Contributing factors were the open cabin door, the grass runway and the soft terrain adjacent to the runway.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/6/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Columbia |
| Event State | ILLINOIS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 62236 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 382702N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0901409W |
| Event Location Airport | Columbia |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | H49 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 420 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1453 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 30 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CPS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 413 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 8 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 80 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.11 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KCPS 061953Z 08004KT 10SM CLR 26/13 A3011 RM |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14882 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 9 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1123 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 2 2004 8:07AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA -- St. Louis FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N817CD |
| NTSB Number | CHI03LA318 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Dixon |
| Aircraft Model | Glasair II |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 230 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1712 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 1 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 51 |
| Airframe Hours | 691 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Columbia Aero Group, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 41 Eagle Lake Drive |
| Aircraft Owner City | Columbia |
| Aircraft Owner State | IL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 62236 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Jimmie E. Gray |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | -- |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | -- |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | H49 |
| Departure City | Columbia |
| Departure State | IL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1500 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 8 2004 8:51AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 3 |
| Runway Length | 2450 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |