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ERA17CA177

2017-05-10 · Reedsville, Pennsylvania, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport RVL

Current FAA registration · N532SE

Make / Model
REUPERT MARK AVID FLYER
Year of manufacture
1987 · 30 years old at event
Engine
ROTAX 582DCDI (65 hp)
Seats / Engines
2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
20260508
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A6B970

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The sport pilot's failure to maintain airplane control during takeoff, which resulted in an exceedance of the airplane's critical angle of attack and a subsequent aerodynamic stall.

Factual narrative

The sport pilot, was also the owner of the experimental, amateur-built, tailwheel airplane stated that he was demonstrating maneuvers for the purpose of developing his brother's familiarity with the make and model airplane. The sport pilot's brother was a pilot-rated passenger, seated in the right seat and had not previously flown the make and model airplane. After completing about 1 hour of maneuvers, the sport pilot's brother attempted a takeoff in calm wind. During the takeoff roll, as the tail became airborne, the airplane began to swerve. The sport pilot's brother overcorrected for the swerve and the airplane departed the right side of the runway. The sport pilot attempted to regain control and climb over obstacles, but the airplane stalled and impacted a field. Examination of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed damage to both wings and the fuselage. The inspector did not observe any preimpact mechanical malfunctions, nor did the pilots report any. The sport pilot, who was also the owner of the experimental, amateur-built, tailwheel airplane, stated that he was demonstrating maneuvers for the purpose of developing his brother's familiarity with the make and model airplane. The sport pilot's brother was a pilot-rated passenger, was seated in the right seat, and had not previously flown the make and model airplane. After completing about 1 hour of maneuvers, the sport pilot's brother attempted to take off in calm wind. During the takeoff roll, as the tail became airborne, the airplane began to swerve. The sport pilot's brother overcorrected for the swerve, and the airplane departed the right side of the runway. The sport pilot attempted to regain control and climb over obstacles, but the airplane stalled and impacted a field. Examination of the wreckage revealed damage to both wings and the fuselage. No preimpact mechanical malfunctions were observed, nor did the pilots report any. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Angle of attack-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2017_ERA17CA177.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

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Related research

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