Hildebrant RUTAN DEFIANT N219DF

Summary

On 7 September 2005 at about 21:25 local time, a Hildebrant RUTAN DEFIANT registered N219DF was involved in an accident near Bloomfield, Indiana, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

7 September 2005 at 21:25

Classification

Accident

Location

Bloomfield, Indiana, United States

Nearest airport

Shawnee Field Airport (1I3)

Coordinates

39.0444, -87.0056

Aircraft

Hildebrant RUTAN DEFIANT

Registration

N219DF

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Bloomfield → Bloomfield

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI05LA257

1 person died.

The pilot's inadequate preflight planning which resulted in the airplane overrunning the end of the runway during the aborted takeoff. A factor to the accident was the pilot's lack of familiarity with the airplane and the corn crop.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The amateur-built airplane overran the end of the runway during an aborted takeoff attempt and subsequently nosed over in a corn field. The airplane was destroyed during a post accident ground fire. The pilot died three days after the accident. Witnesses to the accident reported that the pilot performed a high-speed taxi on the runway prior to attempting a takeoff run. One witness reported that he advised the pilot "to use the grass before the threshold for max takeoff length." Witnesses reported that the airplane overran the end of the runway during a subsequent takeoff attempt. A witness reported that the pilot had evacuated himself from the wreckage and told him that he "couldn't get [the airplane] off the ground." The combined distance to accelerate to rotation speed and then stop was 2,820 feet and 3,960 feet for gross weights of 2,500 and 3,000 lbs, respectively. The runway (2,160 feet by 150 feet, turf) had a 485 foot stopway after the departure threshold. The wreckage was found 222 feet past the end of the stopway and 2,867 feet from the beginning of the runway. According to the Rutan Defiant owner's manual, the airplane was a heavy wing-loading aircraft that required longer runways than typical general-aviation twin engine airplanes. The pilot had flown less than 50 hours as pilot-in-command in the accident airplane. No discrepancies were noted that could be associated with any pre-impact condition or malfunction during the post accident examination.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.