CEN14LA087

Factual narrative

On December 16, 2013, at 1634 central standard time, a experimental-homebuilt Versteeg Zenith 601XL(B), N581SL, was substantially damaged when it collided with terrain shortly after takeoff from Real County Airport (49R), Leakey, Texas. The private pilot/builder/registered owner was seriously injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight conducted under the provision of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The pilot stated that shortly after takeoff, when the airplane was about 100-feet-above the runway, the airplane's canopy "popped" open. He said this created a large amount of drag so he pushed the control stick forward to gain airspeed. The airplane landed hard, which resulted in substantial damage to the motor mounts, both wings, and the fuselage. The airplane was equipped with a Dynon Skyview-D1000 primary flight display (PFD). The unit was sent to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) vehicle recorders laboratory where data from the accident flight was extracted and plotted. The data revealed that the accident flight was about 18 seconds long from the time the airplane departed until the time the airplane impacted the ground. The canopy latch was tied into the PFD and recorded the canopy latch becoming unsecured about 14 seconds into the flight. A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector conducted a postaccident examination of the airplane and found nothing mechanically wrong with the canopy latch that have would precluded it from properly securing the canopy. The pilot reported that, shortly after the airplane departed the runway, the canopy popped open, which caused a large amount of drag, so he pushed the nose of the airplane over to gain airspeed. The airplane subsequently landed hard on the runway. Data extracted from the airplane's primary flight display revealed that the canopy latch became unsecured about 14 seconds into the 18-second flight. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no mechanical anomalies with the canopy latch that would have precluded normal operation. It is likely that the pilot failed to properly secure the latch before takeoff. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

• C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
• F Aircraft-Aircraft structures-Doors-Passenger/crew doors-Not specified - F
• C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-(general)-Not attained/maintained - C