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Atlas / NTSB / ATL96LA012

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event ATL96LA012

1995-11-18 RIDGELAND, South Carolina, United States Airport · 3J1 None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N950E

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

WACO 10

Year of manufacture

1928 · 67 years old at event

Engine

CONT MOTOR W670 SERIES (250 hp)

Seats / Engines

3 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

19791105

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S AD350B

Registrant of record

COOK CHARLES NICHOLAS

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

Failure of the ignition system after takeoff, which resulted the loss of engine power.

Factual narrative

On November 18, 1995, at 1100 eastern standard time, a Waco ASO, N950E, was substantially damaged following a collision with the terrain, while maneuvering for an emergency landing at the Ridgeland Municipal Airport in Ridgeland, South Carolina. Neither the commercial pilot nor his passenger were injured in the accident. The flight was being conducted under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 by the pilot. Visual meteorological conditions existed at the time of the accident, and no flight plan had been filed for the local, personal flight. According to the pilot, shortly after liftoff the engine lost power. The pilot attempted a course reversal to the airport. As he maneuvered the airplane for the emergency landing, it collided with runway 3, skidded down a 30 foot embankment, and nosed over. Post crash engine examination verified that the engine would not run. It was discovered that the spark being produced by the ignition system was weak. After climbing approximately 300 feet after takeoff, the aircraft's engine stopped producing power. The pilot stated that he lowered the nose and banked the aircraft back toward the runway. He attempted to align the aircraft with a runway, but was unable. Subsequently, the aircraft slid off the side of the runway, went down a dirt embankment, and nosed over. Postcrash examination of the aircraft disclosed the ignition system was producing a weak spark. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1995_ATL96LA012.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Related research

What the literature says.

Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type. Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.

Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗