Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Lufker Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
East Moriches, New York 11940
Saturday, May 12, 1990 15:34 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE QUAD CITY CHALLENGER II, AN UNREGISTERED AIRCRAFT THAT WAS BUILT AND OWNED BY THE PILOT, COLLIDED WITH THE GROUND DURING FINAL APPROACH TO LUFKER'S AIRPORT IN VFR WEATHER. THE AIRCRAFT WAS DESTROYED, AND THE UNLICENSED PILOT WAS FATALLY INJURED. THE OWNER/PILOT WAS OBSERVED EARLIER THAT DAY COMPLETING FINAL ASSEMBLY OF THE PLANE. AN EYEWITNESS, WHO WAS A PILOT AND DISTRIBUTOR OF THE AIRCRAFT (WHICH WAS SOLD IN KIT FORM TO HOMEBUILDERS), OBSERVED THE AIRCRAFT TAXIING BEFORE TAKEOFF. HE SAW THE AIRCRAFT TAKE OFF AND CLIMB TO ABOUT 2000 FEET, THEN HEAD SOUTH. THE AIRCRAFT RETURNED FOR LANDING ABOUT 30 MINUTES LATER. THE EYEWITNESS OBSERVED IT ON A GO-AROUND AFTER AN UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT TO LAND. THE AIRCRAFT REENTERED THE PATTERN AND TURNED ONTO FINAL APPROACH. AT ABOUT 150 FEET ON FINAL APPROACH, THE AIRCRAFT PITCHED NOSE DOWN AND CRASHED. ACCORDING TO THE WITNESS, THE ENGINE WAS OPERATING AT A HIGH POWER SETTING, WHEN THE AIRCRAFT PITCHED DOWN & CRASHED.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
FAILURE OF THE UNLICENSED PILOT TO MAINTAIN AIRSPEED ON FINAL APPROACH, WHICH RESULTED IN A STALL AND COLLISION WITH THE GROUND. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: THE PILOT'S LACK OF FLIGHT TRAINING, EXPERIENCE, AND QUALIFICATION.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/12/1990 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1534 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | EAST MORICHES |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 11940 |
| Event Date Year | 1990 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | LUFKER |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 4NY7 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 57 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Unknown |
| Time of the weather observation | 1445 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FOK |
| 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 | 2000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 0 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | FAA |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2363 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 12 1990 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1600 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 52877 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 12 2000 4:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | NONE |
| NTSB Number | NYC90DHJ01 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Unknown |
| Aircraft Explosion | Unknown |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | TOUSSAINT/QUAD CITY |
| Aircraft Model | CHALLENGER II |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | CHALLENGER |
| Aircraft Serial Number | |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | Not Registered |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 1 |
| 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 | 0 |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | THOMAS VON TOUSSAINT |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | |
| Aircraft Owner City | |
| Aircraft Owner State | |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | THOMAS VON TOUSSAINT |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 14 BLUEBERRY LANE |
| Operator City | STONY BROOK |
| Operator State | NY |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 11790 |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 4NY7 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| 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 | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | 2300 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |