NTSB MIA07CA097 — 2007-05-15 · Byron, Georgia, United States

Current FAA registration · N33116

Make / Model: PIPER J3C-65
Year of manufacture: 1940 · 67 years old at event
Engine: CONT MOTOR A&C65 SERIES (65 hp)
Seats / Engines: 2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date: 19550813
ADS-B equipped: Yes — Mode-S A39C20

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N33116 Piper J3-C-65 Minor

Probable cause & findings

The pilots failure to maintain directional control of the airplane during takeoff.

Factual narrative

The pilot stated he departed Houston County airport at about 08:45 EDT and landed at Seaborn Smith's Airport (GE27) at about 09:15. There was about a 5 to 7 knot wind from the southeast. Both runways are grass and both are East - West. I headed upwind to the East and spent a few minutes before departing GE27. I attempted a "soft field" take-off with a nose up - Tail down. This gave me limited visibility over the nose of the airplane. The left quartering tailwind caused me to drift to the right into a fence on the right side of the runway. The accident occurred about 09:30 EDT. The pilot attempted a "soft field" take-off with the nose up and tail down to gave him limited visibility over the nose of the airplane. He stated that a left quartering tailwind caused the airplane to drift to the right into a fence on the right side of the runway. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2007_MIA07CA097.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.