Priest River Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Priest River, Idaho 83822
Monday, September 21, 1998 17:00 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

After turning downwind in the experimental aircraft, the pilot sensed that the lateral flight controls were not responding to his inputs as he thought they would. He therefore elected to continue around the pattern and land. Because he felt that a reduction in power positively effected the perceived control problem, he reduced power on downwind and then attempted to turn base. Witnesses said that the aircraft was going very slow prior to turning base, and that as it entered a left bank, it fell out of the sky. Just prior to impacting the ground, the aircraft rolled wings-level. No problem with the lateral flight control system was able to be identified, and no reason for the perceived lateral control anomaly was determined.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed which resulted in a stall/mush. Factors include allowing his attention to be diverted by what he perceived to be a lateral control problem.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/21/1998
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1700
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City PRIEST RIVER
Event State IDAHO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 83822
Event Date Year 1998
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport PRIEST RIVER AIRPORT
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 1S6
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation 0
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID
Elevation of weather observation facility 0
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 50
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 0
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1272
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Sep 21 1998 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1700
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 11 2000 11:47AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N4DX
NTSB Number SEA98LA185
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Duncan
Aircraft Model DX4
Aircraft Series Identifier DX4
Aircraft Serial Number 1
Certified Max Gross Weight --
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? Yes
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft --
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Unknown
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name ROBERT M. SUAREZ
Aircraft Owner Street Address 675 LORE LAKE RD.
Aircraft Owner City KALISPELL
Aircraft Owner State MT
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 59901
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address
Operator City
Operator State
Operator Country
Operator Zip code
Operator Code
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code 1S6
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1655
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:34AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 0
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --