CEN12LA642

Factual narrative

On August 19, 2012, at 0915 central daylight time, an Aeropro CZ, N812S, impacted terrain during takeoff from Woodfield Airpark Inc, Lockwood, Missouri. The airplane lifted off the runway and settled back on the ground and impacted a tree. The pilot and a passenger were uninjured. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings. The airplane was registered to DNS Ventures LLC and operated by the pilot under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a flight plan had not been filed for the flight that was originating at the time of the accident.The pilot stated that the during the takeoff from the northeast runway (1,700 feet by 120 feet, "rough" turf), he applied forward pressure on the control stick while holding right rudder control input after the airplane lifted off "slightly." The right main landing gear then contacted the runway, and the airplane began to turn right. The pilot stated that "normally" at this point in the takeoff, the airplane has attained a positive rate of climb, but during the accident takeoff it did not feel like it was accelerating or climbing as it had on prior takeoffs. The pilot aborted the takeoff since he felt that the airplane was not going to fly. The pilot stated that he was convinced that the airplane remained in a stall as it touched back down and until it impacted trees. The pilot stated that he pulled on the throttle control to reduce engine power with "a lot of effort," but his thumb was not a position to depress the release button on the vernier throttle control, which was located next to a panel mounted brake control. He said that the airplane was not equipped with toe brakes. The pilot stated that he had never encountered an airplane with a vernier throttle control and a panel mounted brake control. He received a light sport aircraft checkout and flight review in an airplane that was identical to the accident airplane except that it did not have a vernier throttle control, which had been replaced with a push-pull throttle control by the airplane owner. The airplane was taking off on a short grass runway and settled back onto the runway immediately after it lifted off. It then veered off the runway and impacted trees. The pilot attempted to abort the takeoff but did not reduce the engine power, and was unable to stop the airplane before it hit the trees. Postaccident examination revealed no evidence of preimpact malfunction or anomaly that would have precluded normal operation. It is likely that insufficient airspeed and/or an improper pitch attitude during the takeoff resulted in the airplane settling onto the runway. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

• C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Aircraft capability-(general)-Not attained/maintained - C
• C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C