Takeoff & Initial Climb · NTSB CEN09LA536
BROWN STEEN SKYBOLT — Harrison, OH
| Date | August 22, 2009 |
| Location | Harrison, OH |
| Aircraft | BROWN STEEN SKYBOLT (amateur-built) |
| Purpose of flight | Personal |
| Conditions | Day · Visual Meteorological Cond |
| Phase / occurrence | Takeoff Abrupt maneuver |
| Pilot age | 47 |
| Pilot total time | 3,800 hrs · High time |
| Time in type | Unknown |
| Fatalities | 2 |
Probable cause
NTSB findings
- Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
What happened
A witness reported that after the airplane lifted off, it proceeded “straight-and-level” down the runway about 50 feet above ground level (agl). When the airplane reached the end of the runway, it pitched up into a “very steep” climb angle of about 45-50 degrees. The climb continued to approximately 200 feet agl, when the airplane entered a left turn to an easterly heading. However, the airplane continued banking to the left until it became inverted. At that point, the nose of the airplane was “pointed almost straight down. The plane continued to spin to the left until it disappeared from sight behind the fence.” The airplane impacted terrain southeast of the departure end of the runway. A post accident examination did not reveal any anomalies associated with a pre impact failure or malfunction of the airframe or engine. Fractures of the pilot control stick and mating control rod were due to overstress separation resulting from the impact sequence.