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Atlas / NTSB / ERA13CA423

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event ERA13CA423

2013-09-20 Ridgely, Maryland, United States Airport · RJD None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The flight instructor's failure to maintain adequate airspeed during takeoff, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and collision with terrain.

Factual narrative

According to the flight Instructor (CFI), he was demonstrating a soft field takeoff to the student pilot. The engine run-up and takeoff roll were uneventful. The CFI stated the airplane began to drift to left after liftoff from the runway. The CFI applied full right rudder but continued to drift left of runway centerline. Unable to climb, the CFI added that he saw 55 knots on the airspeed indicator prior to exiting the left side of runway. The CFI then decreased engine power, and collided with a parked hang glider on the grass taxiway, just prior to impacting terrain. Examination of the airplane revealed substantial damage to the firewall and right wing. The CFI reported no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. According to the flight Instructor (CFI), he was demonstrating a soft field takeoff to the student pilot. The engine run-up and takeoff roll were uneventful. The CFI stated the airplane began to drift to left after liftoff from the runway. The CFI applied full right rudder but continued to drift left of runway centerline. Unable to climb, the CFI added that he saw 55 knots on the airspeed indicator prior to exiting the left side of runway. The CFI then decreased engine power, and collided with a parked hang glider on the grass taxiway, just prior to impacting terrain. Examination of the airplane revealed substantial damage to the firewall and right wing. The CFI reported no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. 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-Airspeed-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Instructor/check pilot - C
  • Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Aircraft-Contributed to outcome

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2013_ERA13CA423.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 ↗