Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Read County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Leakey, Texas 78873
Monday, December 16, 2013 16:34 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that, shortly after the airplane departed the runway, the canopy popped open, which caused a large amount of drag, so he pushed the nose of the airplane over to gain airspeed. The airplane subsequently landed hard on the runway. Data extracted from the airplane’s primary flight display revealed that the canopy latch became unsecured about 14 seconds into the 18-second flight. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no mechanical anomalies with the canopy latch that would have precluded normal operation. It is likely that the pilot failed to properly secure the latch before takeoff.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s failure to maintain control of the airplane after the canopy opened on takeoff. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s failure to properly secure the canopy latch before takeoff.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/16/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1634 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Leakey |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 78873 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 290000N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0990000E |
| Event Location Airport | Read County |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 49R |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1640 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | 49R |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1640 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| 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) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 33138 |
| NTSB Notification Source | SAT FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 24 2014 3:16PM |
| User who most recently changed record | yeal |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N581SL |
| NTSB Number | CEN14LA087 |
| 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 | MAARTEN H VERSTEEG |
| Aircraft Model | ZENITH 601XL(B) |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | NO SERIES |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 6-6484-001 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1320 |
| 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 | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 16 2013 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 13 |
| Airframe Hours | 13 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | C126 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | VERSTEEG MAARTEN H |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | SAN ANTONIO |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 782504570 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | VERSTEEG MAARTEN H |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | SAN ANTONIO |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 782504570 |
| 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 | 49R |
| Departure City | Leakey |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1634 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 8T8 |
| Destination City | San Antonio |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 24 2014 3:17PM |
| User who most recently changed record | yeal |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 15 |
| Runway Length | 3975 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |