The pilot reported that he and passenger were conducting a high-speed taxi operation with no intention for flight.
While on the runway at the airport in Midland, Texas, with partial power selected, the pilot was unable to maintain directional control and elected to execute a takeoff to avoid ground obstacles.
During the unintended flight, he reported that the experimental Nieuport-12 did not respond normally to flight control inputs. It then hit terrain.
The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and both wings.
The pilot sustained minor injuries in the crash, while the passenger sustained serious injuries.
Probable Cause: The pilot’s loss of directional control during a high-speed taxi operation and subsequent collision with terrain during the inadvertent flight.
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This December 2021 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
why was there a passenger?
There are some strange circumstances regarding this aircraft.
– built in 1987 sn 001, but the prototype was built in 1989 and shown at OSH in 1990.
– the prior owner was a museum..??
– the aircraft was deregistered in 2018, but operated in 2021 ??
https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry N12GX
I would question the airworthiness of this experimental a/c , not an ultralight.
Who would have thought that full throttle would make an airplane fly?
I’d say “substantial damage to the fuselage and both wings” is the understatement of the year.
This tells me little to the cause.
Was it pilot error?
Mechanical failure of a component?
Maintenance oversight?
Because I have been looking building and all the steps to completing “fly off” and sign offs I’ll take a stab at what was being done here. And I also read the NTSB reports that indicated that the controls were done correctly — that is they weren’t reversed in connections.
This was but one of the taxi tests. In this case this was a taxi test that is to be done before getting to the one where you intend to take off and then pull throttle and land. There are low speed taxi tests for determining ground stability and hi-speed tests like this for determining stability at speed with no intent for the plane to get airborne. We may never know what caused part of the plane to start flying and put the pilot in the position of having to fly it to keep from hitting obstacles. I’m thinking that there was a sudden wind change.
“I accidentally took off”
Really?
Seems his “Virtual Reality” flight school training never took into account a rutted cotton field as substitute for a smooth tarmac!!