Clark 1000 N9018R

Summary

On 19 September 2015 at about 15:50 local time, a Clark 1000 registered N9018R was involved in an accident near Warehouse Point, Connecticut, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

19 September 2015 at 15:50

Classification

Accident

Location

Warehouse Point, Connecticut, United States

Nearest airport

Skylark Airpark (7B6)

Coordinates

41.5979, -72.7563

Aircraft

Clark 1000

Registration

N9018R

Category

Airplane

Year built

1959

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Warehouse Point → Warehouse Point

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA15LA365

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot’s failure to maintain adequate airspeed during the initial climb after takeoff, which resulted in the airplane exceeding its critical angle of attack and experiencing an aerodynamic stall. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's decision to conduct the takeoff from a grass runway rather than a paved surface, and his decision to continue the takeoff after the airplane traveled into taller vegetation, which significantly increased the distance required to clear trees at the end of the runway.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot was taking off in the single-seat, single-engine biplane. A witness described that, during the takeoff roll on the mowed grass beside the paved runway, the airplane veered left into taller grass, but the pilot continued the takeoff toward tall trees. After becoming airborne, the airplane's pitch attitude was "much too severe," and it appeared to "run out of energy" as the wings rocked back and forth. The airplane settled onto the ground in tall weeds off the departure end of the runway, nosed over, and came to rest inverted. A video of the flight depicted a flight profile consistent with that described by the witness. Smooth, continuous engine sounds were heard well into the airplane's descent. The pilot's decision to depart from the grass runway rather than the paved runway increased the overall takeoff distance required, a distance which increased even more when the airplane traveled into taller vegetation during the takeoff roll. Rather than aborting the takeoff, the pilot chose to continue, and the airplane became airborne at a point from which it could not maintain a climb over the trees at the end of the runway. The pilot responded by increasing the airplane's pitch attitude, resulting in an exceedance of its critical angle of attack and an aerodynamic stall.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.