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Atlas / NTSB / CEN13CA530

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event CEN13CA530

2013-08-31 Plattsmouth, Nebraska, United States Airport · KPMV None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N4348C

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

AERONCA 7EC

Year of manufacture

1955 · 58 years old at event

Engine

CONT MOTOR C90 SERIES (95 hp)

Seats / Engines

2 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

19560523

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A5356D

Registrant of record

RANKIN KEVIN J

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's loss of control during takeoff.

Factual narrative

While departing runway 16 for a local flight, the private pilot in the front seat was piloting the airplane, while the commercial pilot followed along on the controls from the rear seat. When the airplane became airborne, it yawed to the right and crossed the left edge of the runway. Aircraft control was lost as the airplane's right wing suddenly dropped and the right main landing gear contacted the ground. The airplane descended and spun 180 degrees. Substantial damage was sustained to the fuselage. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions or failure prior to the accident. Winds at the time of the accident were reported calm, however an ultralight pilot, who had flown shortly before the accident airplane, reported a 5-10 knot wind from the south just above the runway. While departing runway 16 for a local flight, the private pilot in the front seat was piloting the airplane, while the commercial pilot followed along on the controls from the rear seat. When the airplane became airborne, it yawed to the right and crossed the left edge of the runway. Aircraft control was lost as the airplane's right wing suddenly dropped and the right main landing gear contacted the ground. The airplane descended and spun 180 degrees. Substantial damage was sustained to the fuselage. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions or failure prior to the accident. The wind at the time of the accident was reported calm; however, an ultralight pilot, who had flown shortly before the accident airplane, reported a 5-10 knot wind from the south just above the runway. 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 Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2013_CEN13CA530.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 (loss of control). 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 ↗