Amateur-built VENTURE N36V accident near Memphis, Tennessee

Probable cause

The pilot's inability to maintain directional control during landing with a flat tire. Contributing to the accident was the failure of the left main landing gear tire for undetermined reasons.

NTSB analysis

According to the pilot, the airplane accelerated as expected during the takeoff roll, and, at rotation, he heard a loud "pop" and felt a "thump." He said that he and the copilot agreed that the airplane probably had experienced a main landing gear tire blowout. The pilot flew by the air traffic control tower, but the controllers were unable to assess the damage, so the pilot requested a return to a different runway for landing. The airplane touched down in the center of the 150-foot-wide runway, but the pilot was unable to maintain directional control with full application of right rudder and right brake. The airplane departed the left side of the runway and struck a concrete drainage culvert, which resulted in substantial damage to the airframe. A postaccident examination of the left main landing gear tire revealed evidence of a puncture and tearing around its circumference but no foreign objects associated with foreign object damage (FOD). No postaccident FOD check of the runway was conducted by the airport authority. The examination also revealed that the inboard half of each main landing gear tire displayed significant wear, no remaining tread, but no chord visible. The cause of the flat tire could not be determined.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for ERA11CA482 for the full record.