ERA12LA315 · Berry Dean GLASAIR I
Berry Dean GLASAIR I · Accident: loss of control on ground during takeoff
From Columbus Airport (CSG) to Montgomery Regional (Dannelly Field) Airport (MGM)
Event
- NTSB case
- ERA12LA315
- 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
Berry Dean GLASAIR I
- Aircraft type
- Berry Dean GLASAIR
- 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
- N540GZ
- Operator
- Bernie W. Vasquez · private individual
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Columbus Airport (CSG), Columbus, GATo Montgomery Regional (Dannelly Field) Airport (MGM), Montgomery, 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
- Takeoff · rejected takeoff
- 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 on ground
- 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 oper/perf/capability
- Personnel issues › Task performance
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
The pilot was attempting to take off in an experimental tailwheel-equipped airplane. He stated that the airplane started to accelerate forward on the takeoff roll and pull to the left while he had right rudder applied. The engine hesitated, and he applied more right rudder and full right brake with no results. He aborted the takeoff and applied both brakes to slow the airplane. The airplane exited the left side of the runway and collided with a runway sign; the left main landing gear collapsed, which resulted in structural damage to the airframe. The pilot reported that he had 0.1 hour in the accident airplane make and model. Examination of the wreckage, including the brakes, did not reveal any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The engine was subsequently test run at full throttle and no anomalies were noted. The airplane owner’s manual indicated that for takeoff, the flaps should be set at 20 degrees and that power should be added slowly to allow airspeed to build and the controls to become effective by the time full power is achieved. Examination of the wreckage revealed that the flaps were in the retracted position. The pilot’s lack of experience in the airplane make and model and unfamiliarity with its operating procedures contributed to his failure to use the recommended flap setting for takeoff.
Probable cause
The pilot’s failure to maintain directional control during takeoff, which resulted in a runway excursion and collision with a runway sign. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s lack of experience in the airplane make and model, resulting in and his failure to use the recommended flap setting for takeoff.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record ERA12LA315
- Event ID
- 20120502X14109
- Case number
- ERA12LA315
- 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. 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: f07b8b4ae721abf8308ff2952cbbb57b58ab2978926a2177a29c2ba3e2cf2803; retrieved 2026-09-15T17:57:50.846Z.