Skip to content

Atlas / NTSB / CEN12CA029

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event CEN12CA029

2011-10-15 Blair, Nebraska, United States Airport · BTA Minor 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N29HT

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

CESSNA 172S

Year of manufacture

2024

Engine

LYCOMING IO-360-L2A (180 hp)

Seats / Engines

4 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

20240920

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A2F3E2

Registrant of record

TREDE 2023 LLC

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot/builder’s inadequate installation of a nosewheel steering component, which resulted in a shimmy and a loss of directional control during the takeoff roll.

Factual narrative

The pilot/builder was planning a short flight above the runway for the purpose of testing the newly built gyrocopter. During the takeoff roll, the nose wheel experienced a shimmy and the pilot was unable to maintain directional control. The gyrocopter rolled onto its left side and exited the side of the runway before coming to rest in the grass. During the rollover, the main rotor mast was substantially damaged. A postaccident examination of the gyrocopter revealed a loose bolt in the nose gear steering linkage which allowed the nose wheel to shimmy. During the takeoff roll, the nosewheel experienced a shimmy, and the pilot was unable to maintain directional control. The gyrocopter rolled onto its left side, exited the side of the runway, and came to rest in the grass. During the rollover, the main rotor mast sustained substantial damage. A postaccident examination of the gyrocopter revealed a loose bolt in the nose gear steering linkage, which allowed the nosewheel to shimmy. The pilot, who was also the builder, was testing the newly built gyrocopter. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Maintenance-Installation-Pilot - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2011_CEN12CA029.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 or causal vocabulary (stall). 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 ↗