Howard SUPER SKY RAIDER N3903B

Summary

On 20 October 2008 at about 18:30 local time, a Howard SUPER SKY RAIDER registered N3903B, operated by Jerry D. Jolley, was involved in an accident near Tuscola, Illinois, 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

20 October 2008 at 18:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Tuscola, Illinois, United States

Nearest airport

Tuscola Airport (K96)

Coordinates

39.7808, -88.3061

Aircraft

Howard SUPER SKY RAIDER

Registration

N3903B

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Jerry D. Jolley

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Tuscola → Tuscola

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Dusk

NTSB number

CEN09CA028

Nobody was injured.

The pilot failed to maintain directional control during takeoff roll. A contributing factor was the cornfield and the pilot's lack of recent experience.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that he was attempting to takeoff from an unpaved runway. During the takeoff roll, the tail wheel equipped, amateur-built airplane started to "angle to the right." The pilot applied hard left rudder pedal, but the airplane continued to turn right and went off the right side of the 30-foot wide runway, and traveled about 35 feet into a cornfield. The airplane was equipped with heel brakes on the bottom of the rudder pedals, but applying pressure to the top of the rudder pedals operated the rudder. The inspection of the airplane revealed that the rudder operated correctly when the left and right rudder pedals were actuated. The right brake actuated when the right brake pedal was applied. The left brake was not actuated due to the impact damage to the left landing gear leg and wheel. The pilot's logbook indicated that he had not flown between 1981 and August 2008. The pilot had flown 1 hour in the accident airplane with an instructor pilot. The accident flight was the pilot's first solo flight in the accident airplane.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.