| Crash location | 27.652778°N, 97.525000°W
Reported location is a long distance from the NTSB's reported nearest city. This often means that the location has a typo, or is incorrect. |
| Nearest city | Corpus Christi, TX
27.800583°N, 97.396381°W 12.9 miles away |
| Tail number | N72260 |
|---|---|
| Accident date | 18 May 2006 |
| Aircraft type | Mahoney Evans VP-1 |
| Additional details: | None |
The 206-hour private pilot reported that he had just taken off from runway 17 at a private airstrip when "at approximately 100 feet above ground level (AGL), a gust of wind from the left blew the airplane knife edge." The pilot stated that he "attempted to correct with hard left rudder and left stick." However, at the time he applied the corrections the gust of wind had subsided and he began to enter a "slow left spiral." The pilot added that he made several attempts to stop the spin; however, he was unsuccessful and the aircraft impacted the ground in a left wing low, nose down attitude. The pilot reported that there were "dust devils" in the area prior to takeoff and that he thought he had encountered one and overcorrected. According to the pilot, the engine and flight controls were functioning correctly, at the time of the accident. The automated weather observation facility at located approximately 7 nautical miles north of the accident site reported winds from 200 degrees at 13 knots, gusting to 17 knots.
The pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane. A contributing factor was the dust devil/whirlwind.