Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Winterhaven, California 92222
Tuesady, August 5, 2014 11:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On August 5, 2014, about 1100 Pacific daylight time (PDT), an experimental David Thompson Challenger II, N518DT, crashed during a forced landing following a loss of engine power near Winterhaven, California. The owner/pilot was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. The private pilot and one passenger sustained serious injuries; the airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The cross-country personal flight departed Yuma, Arizona, about 1045, with a planned destination of El Cajon, California. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed.
The pilot reported that after refueling at Yuma International Airport (YUM) they departed and climbed to 6,500 feet when the engine suddenly quit. The pilot attempted to restart the engine but was unsuccessful. During the landing approach, about 20 feet agl, they encountered a wind gust, impacted the ground very hard, and nosed over.
The airplane was recovered for further examination
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/5/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1100 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Winterhaven |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92222 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 324416N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1143912W |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| 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 | 1857 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 148 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KNYL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 216 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | UTC |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| 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) | 38 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.91 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KNYL 051857Z VRB03KT 10SM CLR 38/10 A2991 RM |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 14 2014 4:51PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | -- |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N518DT |
| NTSB Number | WPR14LA327 |
| 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 | DAVID L THOMPSON |
| Aircraft Model | CHALLENGER II |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | CH2-0711-2894 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5404 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | THOMPSON DAVID L |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | BENSON |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 856026836 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | THOMPSON DAVID L |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | BENSON |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 856026836 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| 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 | NYL |
| Departure City | YUMA |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1045 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SEE |
| Destination City | SAN DIEGO/EL CAJON |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 14 2014 4:51PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| 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 | -- |