Takeoff & Initial Climb · NTSB CEN11FA597
NICHOLS LANCAIR 235 — Heath, OH
| Date | August 25, 2011 |
| Location | Heath, OH |
| Aircraft | NICHOLS LANCAIR 235 (amateur-built) |
| Purpose of flight | Personal |
| Conditions | Day · Visual Meteorological Cond |
| Phase / occurrence | Initial climb Loss of control in flight |
| Pilot age | 50 |
| Pilot total time | 122 hrs · Low time |
| Time in type | 0 hrs |
| Fatalities | 1 |
Probable cause
NTSB findings
- Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
- Personnel issues-Experience/knowledge-Experience/qualifications-Total experience w/ equipment-Pilot - C
- Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-(general)-Not attained/maintained - C
What happened
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.