Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Westfield Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Westfield, Indiana 46074
Saturday, August 11, 2012 13:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that after takeoff he noticed the airplane being pushed to the left side of the runway by the wind. He started to correct then noticed that the right wing was getting close to the ground. The pilot stated that there were no problems with the airplane prior to that point. He did not recall any subsequent events. The airplane came to rest inverted about 1,000 feet from the departure end of runway 36. Examination of the accident site found a 45-foot-long ground scar from the initial point of impact leading to the accident airplane. Examination of the airplane did not reveal any anomalies consistent with a preaccident mechanical malfunction or failure. The local weather observation indicated that a left crosswind of 8 knots or less existed at the time of the accident takeoff. The pilot later stated that he believed he inadvertently stalled the airplane on takeoff.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s failure to maintain control of the airplane after takeoff.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/11/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1330 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Westfield |
| Event State | INDIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 46074 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 400256N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0860928W |
| Event Location Airport | Westfield |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | I72 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 932 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1335 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 258 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TYQ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 922 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 4 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3500 |
| 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) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 300 |
| 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) | 29.99 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| 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) | 30519 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA -- AGL ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 21 2012 2:20PM |
| User who most recently changed record | bowl |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N134CE |
| NTSB Number | CEN12LA540 |
| 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 | James H Berard |
| Aircraft Model | RV-6A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 25900 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 21 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 33 |
| Airframe Hours | 33 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | James H Berard |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Millington |
| Aircraft Owner State | IL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 60537-1001 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | James H Berard |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Millington |
| Operator State | IL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 60537-1001 |
| 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 | I72 |
| Departure City | Westfield |
| Departure State | IN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1330 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 0C8 |
| Destination City | Newark |
| Destination State | IL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 18 2012 5:52PM |
| User who most recently changed record | sort |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 36 |
| Runway Length | 3000 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |