CEN13LA254 · Mason Robert KOLB MARK 3X
Mason Robert KOLB MARK 3X · Accident: loss of control in flight during initial climb
From Lawrence, KS (private airstrip) to Lawrence, KS (private airstrip)
Event
- NTSB case
- CEN13LA254
- 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
Mason Robert KOLB MARK 3X
- Aircraft type
- Mason Robert KOLB MARK 3X
- 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
- N125KP
- Operator
- Dennis R. McNish · private individual
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Lawrence, KS (private airstrip)To Lawrence, KS (private airstrip)
- 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
- Initial climb
- 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 oper/perf/capability
- Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena
- Personnel issues › Action/decision
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
The noncertificated pilot departed to the south in a light sport airplane from a soft dirt field. A witness heard the airplane's engine and saw the airplane make a slight right turn before it impacted a fence and trees at the end of the field. A postimpact examination of the aircraft and engine did not reveal any anomalies that would have prevented normal operation. Wind conditions reported 6 miles from the accident site were from 060 degrees at 10 knots gusting to 14 knots; thus the airplane was likely subject to a tailwind during the departure.
Probable cause
The noncertificated pilot’s improper decision to depart with a tailwind.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record CEN13LA254
- Event ID
- 20130503X01815
- Case number
- CEN13LA254
- 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: b6ef5e71da9b00b7654f165915aa75ba14e3bea7b4102dc59cd56347e8dfe409; retrieved 2026-09-15T21:24:26.036Z.