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ERA13CA400

2013-09-01 · Lafayette, Tennessee, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 3M7

Current FAA registration · N42548

Make / Model
MAXAIR DRIFTER DRIFTER II
Year of manufacture
2008 · 5 years old at event
Engine
ROTAX 912UL SERIES (80 hp)
Seats / Engines
2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
20090219
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A51137

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control during the initial climb after takeoff in gusty wind conditions, which resulted in a hard off-airport landing.

Factual narrative

The pilot of the amateur-built, amphibious, light-sport airplane reported that the airplane accelerated and lifted off from the asphalt runway without incident; however, during the initial climb it encountered "severe turbulence." The pilot was not able to control the airplane and was attempting to return to the airport when it landed hard in a soy bean field, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage. Postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation; nor did the pilot report any. The pilot reported that winds at the time of the accident were light and variable, with gusts up to 8 knots. The pilot of the amateur-built, amphibious, light-sport airplane reported that the airplane accelerated and lifted off from the asphalt runway without incident; however, during the initial climb it encountered "severe turbulence." The pilot was not able to control the airplane and was attempting to return to the airport when it landed hard in a soy bean field, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage. Postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation; nor did the pilot report any. The pilot reported that wind at the time of the accident was light and variable, with gusts up to 8 knots. 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
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-(general)-Not attained/maintained - C
  • — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Gusts-Effect on operation

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2013_ERA13CA400.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (turbulence). All research papers