Evektor Aerotechnik As SPORTSTAR N411EV

Summary

On 5 August 2008 at about 20:00 local time, a Evektor Aerotechnik As SPORTSTAR registered N411EV, operated by St Charles Flying Service Inc, was involved in an accident near St Charles, Missouri, 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

5 August 2008 at 20:00

Classification

Accident

Location

St Charles, Missouri, United States

Nearest airport

St Charles (3SQ)

Coordinates

38.8425, -90.5000

Aircraft

Evektor Aerotechnik As SPORTSTAR

Registration

N411EV

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

St Charles Flying Service Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

St Charles → St Charles

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DFW08LA209

Nobody was injured.

The student pilot's failure to maintain control due to his task saturation as a result of his failure to set the pitch trim to the neutral position before takeoff.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

After taking off, and at about 75 to 100 feet above the runway, the airplane had a sudden pitch down and the student pilot had to pull back on the control stick to maintain control of the airplane. He continued to have difficulty with pitch control as he maneuvered the airplane back to land at the airport, but was unable to simultaneously reduce engine power and maintain control of the airplane. During the landing the airplane touched down hard at a higher-than-normal airspeed with the engine still operating near full power. The student pilot lost directional control and the airplane exited the left side of the runway before nosing over in the grass. An examination of the airplane by Federal Aviation Administration inspectors revealed that the pitch trim was in the full nose-down position. No other anomaly was detected in the airframe or the engine. The pilot later said he didn’t even think about the elevator trim and it was possible that he had taken off with the elevator trim at the wrong setting.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.