Waukesha County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Waukesha, Wisconsin 53188
Wednesday, November 26, 2008 14:30 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported that the autopilot was inadvertently engaged while taxiing to the departure runway. The pilot and his passenger attempted to disengage the autopilot by depressing the "A/P" button on the unit's control panel. The pilot reported that there were warning buzzers sounding as they attempted to disengage the autopilot. The pilot eventually turned off the avionics master switch in order to completely power down the autopilot. After he reestablished power to the avionics, the autopilot appeared to be disengaged. He then contacted the control tower for a takeoff clearance. The airplane "prematurely" rotated and became airborne during the takeoff roll. The pilot stated that he immediately aborted the takeoff, but "struggled with elevator control because of a significant nose up pressure." The airplane landed off the left side of the runway, impacted a snow bank and another runway before coming to rest nose down. A post-accident examination of the airplane showed that the nose landing gear had collapsed, causing substantial damage to the engine firewall. The two-axis autopilot system had servos that controlled the elevator and elevator trim positions. The elevator trim was not in the takeoff position, with the indicator showing a nose-up trim setting of about 8/10 of its total travel. No anomalies were noted during an operational test of the autopilot system or after a download of its fault log. The autopilot was installed with the correct software version and was in compliance with all required airworthiness directives. The pilot reported that he had minimal experience with the use of an autopilot and that he had not received training on the autopilot system installed in the accident airplane.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control during takeoff and his failure to ensure that the elevator trim was properly set before takeoff. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's lack of autopilot system knowledge.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 11/26/2008
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1430
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City Waukesha
Event State WISCONSIN
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 53188
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 11
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 430228N
Event Location Longitude 0881413W
Event Location Airport Waukesha County Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID KUES
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 911
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1430 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID KUES
Elevation of weather observation facility 911
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
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) 3
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -6
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 310
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) 29.97
Density Altitude (feet) --
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 24770
NTSB Notification Source FAA - Milwaukee FSDO
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Dec 10 2008 5:14PM
User who most recently changed record dinc
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N833SP
NTSB Number CEN09CA078
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name CESSNA
Aircraft Model 172S
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 172S8724
Certified Max Gross Weight 2558
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Nov 26 2008 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 4498.1
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name Spring City Aviation, Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 536 Northview Road
Aircraft Owner City Waukesha
Aircraft Owner State WI
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 53188-6909
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Spring City Aviation, Inc.
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address 536 Northview Road
Operator City Waukesha
Operator State WI
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 53188-6909
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code KUES
Departure City Waukesha
Departure State WI
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1430
Departure Time Zone CST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code K87Y
Destination City Cottage Grove
Destination State WI
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2008 10:24AM
User who most recently changed record foxt
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 28
Runway Length 5848
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --