ATL93LA032 · VAN Arsdell/BRENT,M. RUTAN LONG EZ RUTAN LONG
VAN Arsdell/BRENT,M. RUTAN LONG EZ RUTAN LONG · Accident: on ground/water collision with object during takeoff
From Charleston International Airport (CHS) to 40N · Coatesville, PA
Event
- NTSB case
- ATL93LA032
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 0
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
VAN Arsdell/BRENT,M. RUTAN LONG EZ RUTAN LONG
- Aircraft type
- Van Arsdell/brent RUTAN LONG EZ
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N989LE
- Operator
- Silberman,a/Bem,michael B.
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Charleston International Airport (CHS)To 40N · Coatesville, PA
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Takeoff · roll/run
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- On ground/water collision with object
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Pilot in command › Preflight planning/preparation, inadequate
- Pilot in command › Procedures/directives, not used
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
DURING THE TAKE OFF ROLL FROM A CIVIL/MILITARY JOINT USE AIRPORT, THE NOSE WHEEL OF THE AIRPLANE STRUCK THE RAISED MILITARY ARRESTING CABLE. THE PILOT CONTINUED THE FLIGHT TO HIS DESTINATION. ON LANDING IT WAS CONFIRMED THAT THE NOSE TIRE WAS FLAT, & THE LEFT BRAKE WAS DEVOID OF FLUID. THE PILOT STATED THAT HE CHECKED ALL APPROPRIATE PUBLICATIONS. HE NOTED THAT THE APPROACH PLATE FOR RWY 33 MENTIONED THE ARRESTING GEAR & THAT IT DID NOT APPLY TO CIVILIAN PILOTS. THE AIRPORT FACILITIES DIRECTORY WAS CONSULTED WHICH STATED THAT A RAISED, MILITARY AIRCRAFT ARRESTING DEVICE WAS LOCATED 1460 FEET FROM THE RWY 33 THRESHOLD.
Probable cause
THE PILOT'S INADEQUATE PRE-FLIGHT PLANNING AND HIS FAILURE TO NOTE THE RAISED ARRESTING DEVICE NEAR THE RUNWAY THRESHOLD.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record ATL93LA032
- Event ID
- 20001211X15990
- Case number
- ATL93LA032
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 0bb71ab6b63d410b901ee9ec2f39256af5c0d166c4214d448dbd82a5f0019489; retrieved 2026-09-23T02:27:32.463Z.