# Incident 19951001038849I: Amtr CHALLENGERII, Palm Beach, FL, October 1, 1995

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: October 1, 1995, 11:16 local time
- Place: Palm Beach, FL
- Damage: Minor damage
- Phase of flight: Normal Cruise
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 26.6948° N, 80.0419° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs: center of Palm Beach, FL, within about 6 miles (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=26.6948&lon=-80.0419&mi=10
- Aircraft: N62279, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N62279-1996-05-22) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Shade Darryl H CHALLENGER II (registry code 056229T, https://openairdocs.org/model/shade-darryl-h-challenger-ii) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: AMTR CHALLENGERII
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Pilot flight hours: 100 total, 100 in this make and model
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19951001038849I

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

NARRATIVE: WALTER JOSEPH DOWNS ORIGINATED FLIGHT FROM LANTANA AIRPORT (LNA) AT APPROXIMATELY 0730 ON SUNDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1995, IN AN EXPERIMENTAL AMATEUR BUILT ON CHALLENGER IIS, REGISTERED AIRCRAFT NUMBER N62279. MR. DOWNS STATED THAT HE WAS PILOT IN COMMAND WITH NO PASSENGERS, AND THAT HE AND MR. DARRYL H. SHADE, THE REGISTERED OWNER OF N62279, WERE FLYING IN TANDEM. MR. DOWNS STATED THAT AFTER REFUELING AT STUART AIRPORT (SUA) HE BEGAN EXPERIENCING ENGINE TROUBLE, AS IF HE WERE NOT GETTING ENOUGH FUEL TO THE ENGINE. AT THAT TIME HE SAID THAT MR. SHADE AND HE WERE IN THE AREA OF SINGER ISLAND. THE BEACH WAS FULL OF PEOPLE SO MR. DOWNS SAID THAT HE STARTED LOOKING FOR AN UNOCCUPIED STRIP OF BEACH WHERE HE COULD LAND THE AIRCRAFT. THE ENGINE QUIT AND MR. DOWNS PUT THE AIRCRAFT DOWN ON AN UNOCCUPIED AREA OF THE BEACH IN PALM BEACH. MR. DOWNS STATED THAT MR. SHADE FLEW BACK TO LANTANA TO PICK UP A TRUCK AND RETURNED TO THE AIRCRAFT SITE WHERE MR. SHADE DRAINED APPROX. 3 TO 4 GALLONS OF FUEL FROM THE AIRCRAFT PRIOR TO IT BEING MOVED BY HIM, MR. SHADE, A POLICE OFFICER AND SOME OTHER ON LOOKERS. MR. DOWNS SAID THEY PUT THE AIRCRAFT ON THE TRUCK AFTER LIFTING IT OVER A SEA WALL. HE AND MR. SHADE TOOK THE AIRCRAFT BACK TO LANTANA AIRPORT WHERE MR. SHADE TOOK THE ENGINE AND RELATED FUEL LINES OFF THE CHALLENGER II, N62279 AND INSTALLED THEM ON ANOTHER AIRCRAFT. MR. DOWNS STATED THAT EVERYTHING RAN FINE AND THAT HE SUSPECTED FOREIGN OBJECT DEBRIS IN THE FUEL LINE THAT CAUSED HIS ENGINE TO QUIT AND CAUSED HIM TO MAKE AN EMERGENCY LANDING.

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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