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ERA21LA049

2020-11-19 · Lititz, Pennsylvania, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport LNS

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s inadvertent attempt to takeoff on a taxiway, rather than a runway, which resulted in a collision with a fence during takeoff.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that the airplane was standing at the hold short line for the runway at night. The pilot was cleared for takeoff and taxied toward the runway; however, he mistook a taxiway for the runway and attempted a takeoff. During the takeoff roll, the airplane struck a fence and came to rest inverted. The airplane’s fuselage and left wing were substantially damaged. The pilot added that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • — Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Identification/recognition-Pilot

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2020_ERA21LA049.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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