ERA13FA017 · Arion LIGHTNING
Arion LIGHTNING · Accident: loss of control in flight during takeoff
From Hensley Airpark (04TN) to Hensley Airpark (04TN)
Event
- NTSB case
- ERA13FA017
- 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
Arion LIGHTNING
- Aircraft type
- Arion LIGHTNING
- 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
- N290AL
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Hensley Airpark (04TN), Chuckey, TNTo Hensley Airpark (04TN), Chuckey, TN
- Aircraft age
- Built the same year (2012)
- 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
- 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 systems
- Personnel issues › Task performance
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
The experimental amateur-built airplane accelerated normally during the takeoff roll for the Phase 1 test flight before pitching up sharply and beginning a slow climb to about 50 to 60 feet above the ground. The wings rocked back and forth as it drifted off the left side of the runway. Witnesses reported that the airplane appeared out of control and off center. The airplane was heading toward trees and a residence when the pilot-rated passenger, who was on board to record information during the test flight, took control of the airplane, lowered the nose, and turned away from obstructions; however, the nose abruptly dropped and the airplane struck the ground. Postaccident examination of the airplane did not reveal any preimpact malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The flaps were found in the fully extended position and, given reports of the airplane's behavior after the takeoff, were likely fully extended during takeoff and at the time of impact. The owner/builder reported that the normal takeoff procedure called for a 10-degree flap setting and that the airplane did not have a pretakeoff checklist, which would be developed during the flight testing. An estimated weight and balance calculation for the accident flight placed the airplane about 30 pounds over its published maximum gross weight and about a 1/2 inch from its aft center of gravity limit; however, the maximum gross weight is about 75 pounds below the general specifications listed by the kit manufacturer. The owner and pilot-rated passenger stated that they did not discuss or perform weight and balance calculations before the accident flight.
The airplane had been operated for about 15 hours since new and since its most recent condition inspection, which was performed about 1 month before the accident. The pilot's total flight experience in make and model consisted of about 3 hours with a flight instructor and about 4 hours of solo flight experience. Given the lack of a pretakeoff checklist and the pilot's minimal flight experience in the airplane make and model, it is likely that he began the takeoff with flaps fully extended, which combined with the airplane's high gross weight and near-limit aft center of gravity, resulted in the loss of airplane control.
Probable cause
The pilot’s inadequate preflight planning, which resulted in an attempted takeoff at a high gross weight, near the limit of its aft center of gravity, and with the airplane incorrectly configured with fully extended flaps. Contributing to the accident was the lack of a pretakeoff checklist and the pilot’s lack of total flight experience in make and model.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record ERA13FA017
- Event ID
- 20121012X70109
- Case number
- ERA13FA017
- 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: 69dc2fd8eec12b5eaa3797897edd44b783f480efb8bcb7ce1d842950710da2e0; retrieved 2026-09-15T20:09:07.006Z.