North American NAVION N8698H

Summary

On 11 October 2020 at about 17:30 local time, a North American NAVION registered N8698H was involved in an accident near Palmetto, Florida, United States. 4 people were on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

11 October 2020 at 17:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Palmetto, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Airport Manatee (48X)

Coordinates

27.6429, -82.5201

Aircraft

North American NAVION

Registration

N8698H

Category

Airplane

Year built

1947

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Brooksville

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA21LA017

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot’s failure to maintain directional control during takeoff in gusting crosswind conditions, which led to a runway excursion.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The commercial pilot was attempting to depart from a turf runway in gusting, left-quartering headwind conditions. He applied full power and was utilizing a soft-field takeoff technique. As the airplane began to lift off, it encountered a “large wind gust” from the left and departed the runway to the right. The pilot’s remedial actions had “no effect,” and the airplane impacted a row of hangars that ran parallel to the runway. The airplane was destroyed by impact damage and a postcrash fire. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have prevented normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.