Thocker VANS RV-4 N44NW

Summary

On 30 October 2003 at about 20:00 local time, a Thocker VANS RV-4 registered N44NW, operated by Randy J. Brown, was involved in an accident near Liberty, North Carolina, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

30 October 2003 at 20:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Liberty, North Carolina, United States

Nearest airport

Causey Airport (2A5)

Coordinates

35.9128, -79.6172

Aircraft

Thocker VANS RV-4

Registration

N44NW

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Randy J. Brown

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Liberty → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ATL04LA030

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed on initial takeoff climb resulting in an in-flight loss of control, inadvertent stall, and collision with the runway.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot stated on takeoff roll the control stick would not move forward. The airplane became airborne and achieved an extremely nose high attitude. He thought he might have an elevator trim problem and pushed the trim lever forward with negative results. The airplane was approaching a stall, entered an uncontrolled descent and collided with the ground. A witness observed the airplane on takeoff. The tail came up almost as soon as the takeoff roll began. The rotation was abrupt and the airplane came off the ground in a nose high attitude. The nose of the airplane was observed to pitch up, the airplane stalled, veered to the right and then back to the left. The nose dropped and the airplane continued descending to the left and collided with the ground. Examination of the flight control system revealed no evidence of a control system failure. Review of the Van's Aircraft RV-4 data reveals the RV-4 will stall at 54 mph in a clean configuration.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.