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ATL83FU001 · Wizard J-3

9 Apr 1983 · Wetumpka, AL, United States

Wizard J-3 · Accident: on ground/water collision with object while taxiing

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Narrative check · The NTSB narrative appears to contradict this record's injuries. Values are shown as recorded, not corrected; compare with the narrative.

Event

NTSB case
ATL83FU001
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

Wizard J-3

Aircraft type
Wizard J-3
Category
Ultralight
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
UNREG
Operator
Unknown
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From not recordedTo not recorded
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 103: Ultralight
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
Taxi
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 › Airspeed, misjudged
  • Pilot in command › Clearance, misjudged
  • Pilot in command › Distance, misjudged

Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.

NTSB narrative

THE PLT REPORTED HAVING ABOUT 0.4 HOUR OF EXPERIENCE IN THIS NEW ULTRALIGHT VEHICLE. THE NOSEWHEEL OF THE VEHICLE WAS NOT STEERABLE & THERE WERE NO BRAKES ON THE MAIN GEAR. THEREFORE, THE PLT RELIED ON THE RUDDER FOR GROUND STEERING. AT SLOW SPEED, AIR FROM THE PROPELLER WAS NECESSARY FOR TURNING. HOWEVER, THE VEHICLE WAS EQUIPPED WITH A LEAF SPRING BRAKE ON THE NOSEWHEEL. THE MISHAP OCCURRED DURING TAXI PRACTICE. WHILE THE PLT WAS TAXIING BACK TO A GROUP OF BYSTANDERS, HE REPORTEDLY FOUND HIMSELF IN A SITUATION WHERE HE COULD NOT STOP IN TIME TO AVOID A PARKED CAR. HE ADDED POWER IN AN ATTEMPT TO GET MORE RUDDER RESPONSE FOR TURNING. HOWEVER, THERE WAS INSUFFICIENT ROOM TO TURN SUCCESSFULLY. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE ULTRALIGHT STRUCK THE CAR & A BYSTANDER. THE CAR RECEIVED MINOR DAMAGE & THE BYSTANDER SUSTAINED MINOR INJURIES.

Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record ATL83FU001
Event ID
20001214X42594
Case number
ATL83FU001
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: 4d3e5b145724372046f314ee18c0d148e87f69019f70e8f7ff4345ef63b6bbe2; retrieved 2026-09-23T22:29:16.686Z.