FLIGHT FINDINGSAVIATION OCCURRENCE MAP
Back to map

MIA08CA126 · Taylorcraft Aviation F19

20 Jun 2008 · Montgomery, AL, United States

Taylorcraft Aviation F19 · Accident: loss of control in flight on approach

From Stevenson Airport (7A6) to Montgomery Regional (Dannelly Field) Airport (MGM)

Report a problem

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

Event

NTSB case
MIA08CA126
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
Unknown
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

Taylorcraft Aviation F19

Aircraft type
Taylorcraft F19
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
N3681T
Operator
James W. Freeman · private individual
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route Narrative disagrees
From Stevenson Airport (7A6), Stevenson, ALTo Montgomery Regional (Dannelly Field) Airport (MGM), Mongomery, AL
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
Approach · VFR pattern final
Defining eventThe 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
Loss of control in flight
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

  • Aircraft › Aircraft handling/service

Approximate · Coordinates from the NTSB case API, which marks them as estimated or does not say; no uncertainty radius is established.

NTSB narrative

The pilot stated all flight controls were free and working properly before and during the flight, until the turn from base to final over the western end of runway 10 at the Montgomery Regional Airport. He had a pair of shoes on the right floorboard tucked in against the seat when he departed his departure airport. During the flight the shoes got looped around the left rudder pedal on the right side of the cockpit and jammed the left rudder peddle, preventing any movement. During the turn from base to final the airplane entered a left "skid" and he attempted to correct with right aileron. The airplane's speed had decreased to 70 mph. The pilot applied harder aileron to the right which resulted in a slip and rapid lose of altitude. He said the airplane was now heading for buildings on the north side of runway 10. He aimed that airplane at a chain link fence and struck it between the fence posts. The pilot opened the cabin door and walked away from the airplane with minor scratches.

Probable cause

The pilot's improper loading of personal belongings which resulted in rudder pedal interference.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record MIA08CA126
Event ID
20080825X01304
Case number
MIA08CA126
Dataset
full-current
Source SHA-256
5cf380f0061817c0331a6b2d8cc7e0ee3a79bea469a1001dc5c10e56f35f5ab3
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, coordinates. 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: 46f59652fc14938df0ec7fbe554c9a9b9fd73313a9f5c2ad94b8a92fe7745747; retrieved 2026-09-15T10:05:58.167Z.