Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Newark-Heath Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Heath, Ohio 43056
Thursday, August 25, 2011 18:56 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The accident occurred during the pilot's first flight in the experimental amateur-built airplane since he purchased it about 1 year earlier. A witness stated that the airplane appeared to be "very unstable" after it became airborne. He stated that the airplane continued to fly erratically, with continuous attitude changes, and cleared a row of airport hangars by about 10 feet. The airplane then continued the climb to between 100 and 150 feet above the ground before it banked sharply left and entered a nose-down descent into trees. The witness stated that the engine sounded normal throughout the entire flight. A postaccident examination of the airport property revealed that the airplane had veered off the left side of the runway before it became airborne. The postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. It is likely that, because this was the pilot's first flight in the airplane and he had not logged any flights in a similar airplane, he failed to maintain directional control during takeoff and did not subsequently gain control.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to obtain adequate familiarization with the accident airplane type before the accident flight, which resulted in his failure to maintain airplane control during takeoff.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/25/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1856 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Heath |
| Event State | OHIO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 43056 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 400118N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0822749W |
| Event Location Airport | Newark-Heath Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | VTA |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.125 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 180 |
| Airport Elevation | 884 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1854 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | VTA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 884 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 5500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 330 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.95 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KVTA 252254Z AUTO 33007KT 10SM BKN055 25/17 |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 32723 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Federal Aviation Administratio |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 22 2014 4:16PM |
| User who most recently changed record | foxt |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N777BN |
| NTSB Number | CEN11FA597 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | NICHOLS |
| Aircraft Model | LANCAIR 235 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 334 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1500 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 7 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 11 |
| Airframe Hours | 1131 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Donny L. Asher |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Pataskala |
| Aircraft Owner State | OH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 43062-7308 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Donny L. Asher |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Pataskala |
| Operator State | OH |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 43062-7308 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | VTA |
| Departure City | Heath |
| Departure State | OH |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1856 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | VTA |
| Destination City | Heath |
| Destination State | OH |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 22 2014 4:16PM |
| User who most recently changed record | foxt |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 27 |
| Runway Length | 4649 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |