Accident Details
Probable Cause and Findings
The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed which resulted in a stall/mush. A factor was a tailwind.
Aircraft Information
Registered Owner (Current)
Analysis
On July 24, 1994, at 1130 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 180, N601RF, registered and piloted by Reese E. Fox, a certified flight instructor (CFI), sustained substantial damage during intial takeoff climb, near Waynesburg, Ohio. The instructor and the student pilot were seriously injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The flight was being conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
The airplane had departed from a private airstrip, and struck trees approximately 1/4 mile from the departure end of the 1400 foot runway. According to the pilot's statement on the NTSB Form 6120.1/2, the CFI was in the right seat and he was teaching his wife how to fly. The CFI wrote:
...I had her [wife] in left seat teaching her use of rudders. She was doing a good job of keeping the plane straight and I [let] her get me too far down [the] runway-before I took control of [the] aircraft. As we climbed out, I started a climbing right turn over the hill...we got into rolling effect of heat and wind-as we were sinking we caught a tree...this accident was caused be me letting aircraft get too far down runway before, I pulled plane into air. Engine and aircraft was working fine.
According to FAA Inspector, Donald Rhodes, inspector's report, he interviewed Mr. Fox in the hospital. Mr. Rhodes wrote:
Mr. Fox stated they were making a down wind takeoff due to terrain restrictions and he let his student get too far down the short runway before becoming airborne...
Examination of the aircraft and the engine revealed no discrepancies.
Data Source
Data provided by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). For more information on this event, visit the NTSB Records Search website. NTSB# NYC94LA138