Cessna 120 N89603

Summary

On 11 October 2010 at about 12:05 local time, a Cessna 120 registered N89603, operated by Willie Simon, was involved in an accident near Falls Village, Connecticut, 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

11 October 2010 at 12:05

Classification

Accident

Location

Falls Village, Connecticut, United States

Nearest airport

Private Grass Strip (NONE)

Coordinates

41.9550, -73.3639

Aircraft

Cessna 120

Registration

N89603

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Willie Simon

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Falls Village → Great Barringto

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA11CA017

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s failure to abort the takeoff, which resulted in an in-flight collision with terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot stated that he was repositioning the tail-wheeled airplane from a 720-foot grass strip to an airport for maintenance. He computed a takeoff distance of 450 feet and completed two practice takeoff runs to verify that the airplane was able to take off from the short runway. During the practice runs, with the airplane about 400 feet down the runway at an airspeed of 50 knots, the tail would rise normally and the pilot would abort the takeoff. During the accident takeoff roll, about 400 feet down the strip, the airplane encountered a dip in the terrain and briefly became airborne. The airplane settled back onto the runway and the pilot continued the takeoff, rotating airborne about 100 feet prior to a cornfield off the departure end of the runway. The pilot attempted to gain altitude, but the airplane struck corn stalks and descended into terrain. During the accident sequence that airplane incurred substantial damage to the fuselage, wings, and engine firewall. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.