Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Praire Du Sac, Wisconsin 53578
Monday, November 1, 2010 14:15 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane impacted the ground following an in-flight separation of the left wing during cruise flight. The pilot, who was the sole occupant, was fatally injured. Witnesses reported seeing the airplane traveling north, about 300-500 feet above ground level, when one wing suddenly separated from the airplane. One of the witnesses stated that the other wing separated shortly after the first one. Postaccident examination confirmed that both wings were completely separated from the airplane with the exception of the right wing aft spar and aileron. Examination of the fractures in the wing attachment fittings revealed signatures consistent with overload failure with the exception of one fitting that had no perceptible damage due to deformation or fracture. The attachment bolt for the fitting that showed no perceptible overload damage was not recovered during the investigation; however, the relative lack of damage to the strut fitting indicates that the attachment bolt either failed, or its corresponding nut had loosened and separated during the flight. A portion of wing fabric retained for testing showed that the fabric met the minimum performance requirements as set forth in regulations. No preaccident defects were found with regard to the components examined.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The separation of the fuselage-mounted wing strut attachment fitting for an undetermined reason, which resulted in the separation of the left wing of the airplane.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/1/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1415 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Praire Du Sac |
| Event State | WISCONSIN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 53578 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 432047n |
| Event Location Longitude | 0894512w |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1415 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DLL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 979 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3200 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 0 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.42 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KDLL 011915Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM SCT032 08/00 |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 29997 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA-AGL-ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 5 2012 1:53PM |
| User who most recently changed record | bowl |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N448WM |
| NTSB Number | CEN11LA050 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | MCFARLAND BILL |
| Aircraft Model | CHALLENGER II |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | CH2-1002-2263 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 16 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MCFARLAND WILLIAM H |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | WAUNAKEE |
| Aircraft Owner State | WI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 53597-9016 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Thomas P. Mitchell |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Fargo |
| Operator State | ND |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 58078 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 91C |
| Departure City | Prairie Du Sac |
| Departure State | WI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1400 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | RRL |
| Destination City | Merrill |
| Destination State | WI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 1 2012 5:41PM |
| User who most recently changed record | brajo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |