Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Causey Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Liberty, North Carolina 27298
Thursday, October 30, 2003 15:00 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated on takeoff roll the control stick would not move forward. The airplane became airborne and achieved an extremely nose high attitude. He thought he might have an elevator trim problem and pushed the trim lever forward with negative results. The airplane was approaching a stall, entered an uncontrolled descent and collided with the ground. A witness observed the airplane on takeoff. The tail came up almost as soon as the takeoff roll began. The rotation was abrupt and the airplane came off the ground in a nose high attitude. The nose of the airplane was observed to pitch up, the airplane stalled, veered to the right and then back to the left. The nose dropped and the airplane continued descending to the left and collided with the ground. Examination of the flight control system revealed no evidence of a control system failure. Review of the Van's Aircraft RV-4 data reveals the RV-4 will stall at 54 mph in a clean configuration.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed on initial takeoff climb resulting in an in-flight loss of control, inadvertent stall, and collision with the runway.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/30/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Liberty |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 27298 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| Event Location Latitude | 355446N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0793702W |
| Event Location Airport | Causey Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 2A5 |
| 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 | 723 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1454 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 330 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BUY |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 617 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 22 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.24 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1416 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17095 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Pilot of accident airplane |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 30 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1550 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 27 2005 3:52PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Greensboro FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N44NW |
| NTSB Number | ATL04LA030 |
| 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 | Thocker |
| Aircraft Model | Vans RV-4 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 599 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1500 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 4 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 5 |
| Airframe Hours | 642 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | John S. Cargill |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 125 Lockwood West Drive |
| Aircraft Owner City | Cary |
| Aircraft Owner State | NC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 27511 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Randy J. Brown |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 1918 Park Summit Blvd |
| Operator City | Apex |
| Operator State | NC |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 27523 |
| 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 | 2A5 |
| Departure City | Liberty |
| Departure State | NC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1500 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| 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 - roll/run |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 12 2004 9:25AM |
| User who most recently changed record | POWP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 20 |
| Runway Length | 3800 |
| Runway Width | 40 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |