De Havilland DH82 UNREG

Summary

On 27 September 2025 at about 23:00 local time, a De Havilland DH82 registered UNREG was involved in an accident near Harvard, Illinois, United States. 2 people were 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

27 September 2025 at 23:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Harvard, Illinois, United States

Nearest airport

Dacy (0C0)

Coordinates

42.4003, -88.6355

Aircraft

De Havilland DH82

Registration

UNREG

Category

Airplane

Year built

1944

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Hampshire

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN25LA397

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s failure of the pilot to maintain directional control during takeoff which resulted in a collision with cornstalks. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s partially obscured vision due to sun glare.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was attempting to depart in the biplane to the west from a turf runway with uncultivated cornstalks off the left side of the runway. The pilot was seated in the rear tandem seat, and his forward vision was partially obscured by the tailwheel airplane’s high nose attitude and the setting sun to the west. On takeoff roll, the pilot did not maintain centerline and the airplane’s left wing contacted the corn on the left side of the runway. The pilot lost directional control, the airplane ground looped and came to rest in the corn field. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the upper and lower right wings. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.