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ERA22LA081

2021-12-04 · Bennettsville, South Carolina, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport PVT

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s inadequate preflight planning, resulting in a takeoff attempt from a grass parking area instead of the runway and subsequent impact with a pole.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that he was taking off from a 2,300-ft-long grass strip. He initiated the takeoff from a 1,000-ft-long parking area that was about 35° off the runway heading, thinking it was the runway. After realizing his error, there was insufficient room to stop, the airplane became airborne, and the left wing impacted the windsock pole, which resulted in structural damage to the wings, fuselage, and empennage, and the pilot sustained a serious injury. The pilot reported that there were no pre-accident mechanical malfunctions or failures with 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.

  • — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Heading/course-Not attained/maintained
  • — Personnel issues-Task performance-Planning/preparation-Flight planning/navigation-Pilot
  • — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Pole-Not specified

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2021_ERA22LA081.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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