Mahoney EVANS VP-1 N72260

Summary

On 18 May 2006 at about 17:15 local time, a Mahoney EVANS VP-1 registered N72260 was involved in an accident near Corpus Christi, Texas, 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

18 May 2006 at 17:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Corpus Christi, Texas, United States

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Mahoney EVANS VP-1

Registration

N72260

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Corpus Christi → Corpus Christi

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DFW06CA129

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane. A contributing factor was the dust devil/whirlwind.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The 206-hour private pilot reported that he had just taken off from runway 17 at a private airstrip when "at approximately 100 feet above ground level (AGL), a gust of wind from the left blew the airplane knife edge." The pilot stated that he "attempted to correct with hard left rudder and left stick." However, at the time he applied the corrections the gust of wind had subsided and he began to enter a "slow left spiral." The pilot added that he made several attempts to stop the spin; however, he was unsuccessful and the aircraft impacted the ground in a left wing low, nose down attitude. The pilot reported that there were "dust devils" in the area prior to takeoff and that he thought he had encountered one and overcorrected. According to the pilot, the engine and flight controls were functioning correctly, at the time of the accident. The automated weather observation facility at located approximately 7 nautical miles north of the accident site reported winds from 200 degrees at 13 knots, gusting to 17 knots.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.