FTW02LA202
2002-07-06 · Lancaster, Texas, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport LNC
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed which resulted in an inadvertent stall. A contributing factor was the pilot's failure to maintain directional control during takeoff roll.
Factual narrative
On July 6, 2002, approximately 0845 central daylight time, a Jackie SNS-7-Hiperbipe 3 experimental single-engine airplane, N234JD, sustained substantial damage after impacting terrain following a loss of control during takeoff/initial climb at the Lancaster Airport, Lancaster, Texas. The airplane was owned and operated by the pilot. The private pilot, sole occupant of the airplane, sustained minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight, and no flight plan was filed. The flight was originating at the time of the accident. In a telephone interview with the NTSB investigator-in-charge, the pilot reported that on takeoff roll from runway 13, the airplane swerved "for some reason" to the left. The pilot further stated that he must have over corrected by applying right brake or rudder. The airplane then swerved to the right across the runway and became airborne. Approximately 15 feet agl, due to "lack of airspeed," the airplane stalled and impacted the ground with its left wing. Subsequently, the airplane's right wing hit the ground, separating it from the fuselage. The pilot stated that the airplane came to rest upright approximately 100 yards to the right side and perpendicular to the runway. An FAA inspector, who traveled to the accident site, reported the right wing had separated, the propeller was bent and twisted, and both main gear were folded up underneath the fuselage. At 0853, the Redbird Automatic Surface Observing System, located 10 nautical miles northwest of the accident site, reported wind calm, visibility 8 statute miles, sky clear, temperature 25 degrees Centigrade, dew point 22 degrees Centigrade, with an altimeter setting of 30.09 inches of mercury. On takeoff roll, the airplane swerved to the left. The pilot overcorrected by applying right brake or rudder. The airplane then swerved to the right across the runway and became airborne. Approximately 15 feet agl, due to lack of airspeed, the airplane stalled and impacted the ground with its left wing. Subsequently, the airplane's right wing hit the ground, separating it from the fuselage. The airplane came to rest upright approximately 100 yards to the right side and perpendicular to the runway. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2002_FTW02LA202.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (stall, loss of control). All research papers
- Semantic Scholar 2016 · Article (Interacción) Trajectory Recovery System: Angle of Attack Guidance for Inflight Loss of Control
This paper describes the design and development of an ecological display to aid pilots in the recovery of an In-Flight Loss of Control event due to a Stall (ILOC-S).
- NTSB Aircraft Accident Reports 2010 · Accident report Loss of Control on Approach — Colgan Air Flight 3407
Colgan Air 3407 / Continental Connection (Q400) Buffalo NY, February 12, 2009 — 50 fatalities. Definitive investigation of the Colgan 3407 stall-stick-pusher crash on approach to Buffalo.
- NASA NTRS 2026 · Conference Paper Computational Analysis of Steady State Aerodynamics of Transonic Truss-Braced Wing Configuration in Deep Stall
This study presents a computational investigation of steady state aerodynamics of the Subsonic Ultra-Green Aircraft Research (SUGAR) Transonic Truss-Braced Wing (TTBW) configuration over a wide range …
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2025 · Journal article (JAAER) A Scoping Review of Aviation Loss of Control Inflight Research
Loss of control – inflight (LOC-I) contributes to aircraft accidents at unacceptably high rates. Significant industry efforts and research have aimed to improve LOC-I prevention, detection, and recove…
- SKYbrary (Eurocontrol) 2024 · SKYbrary article Loss of Control In-Flight (LOC-I) — SKYbrary Knowledge Base
SKYbrary comprehensive knowledge-base entry on Loss of Control In-Flight — definitions, contributing factors, accident case studies (Air France 447, Colgan 3407), and prevention strategies.
- Semantic Scholar 2024 · Article (International Conference on Networking and Services) Risk Assessment of Loss of Control In-Flight Trajectories for Urban Air Mobility Safety
In Urban Air Mobility (UAM), maintaining a minimum separation between aircraft is a safety requirement, which becomes challenging amidst congested air traffic and off-nominal conditions, such as Loss …