GAA16CA306 · S.O.C.A.T.A. RALLYE 150 ST
S.O.C.A.T.A. RALLYE 150 ST · Accident: loss of control in flight during takeoff
From York Airport (01SC) to Aero Plantation Airport (NC21)
Event
- NTSB case
- GAA16CA306
- 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
S.O.C.A.T.A. RALLYE 150 ST
- Aircraft type
- S RALLYE 150
- 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
- N319RA
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From York Airport (01SC), York, SCTo Aero Plantation Airport (NC21), Weddington, NC
- Aircraft age
- About 39 years (built 1977)
- 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
- Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
- Tree(s)
- 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 from the NTSB case API, which marks them as estimated or does not say; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
The pilot reported that during takeoff in crosswind conditions, after rotation and about 6 feet above the ground, a gust of wind from the right pushed the airplane to the left of the runway toward a group of peach trees. The pilot further reported that he applied additional correction for the crosswind drift but was unable to give full deflection due to the proximity of the airplane above the ground, the left wing impacted the tree(s), and subsequently the airplane spun to the left.
The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing.
According to the pilot there were no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
A review of recorded data from the automated weather observation station located about 10 miles to the south east, revealed that, about 36 minutes before the accident the wind was 270 degrees true at 8 knots. A further review revealed that, about 24 minutes after the accident the wind was 290 degrees true at 10 knots. The airplane landed on runway 18.
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during takeoff, which resulted in an impact with a peach tree(s).
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record GAA16CA306
- Event ID
- 20160613X35347
- Case number
- GAA16CA306
- 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: 47f86020705e6b7e352cb0f12dcd3d80b408687040fd770348492a41fc1ee39a; retrieved 2026-09-16T03:30:09.503Z.