# Incident 20230120005329I: Freeman Darcy L SABERWING, Cottondale, TX, January 20, 2023

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: January 20, 2023, 15:30 local time
- Place: Cottondale, TX
- Damage: Minor damage
- Phase of flight: Cruise/Level Flight
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 33.0660° N, 97.7048° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs: center of Cottondale, TX, within about 6 miles (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=33.0660&lon=-97.7048&mi=10
- Aircraft: N121DF, registered now (https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N121DF) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Freeman Darcy L SABERWING (registry code 05638DZ, https://openairdocs.org/model/freeman-darcy-l-saberwing) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Amateur-built UNKNOWN ENG (registry code 99999, https://openairdocs.org/engine/amateur-built-unknown-eng) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: FREEMAN DARCY L SABERWING
- Reported engine: AMA/EXPR UNKNOWN ENG
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Other injuries: 0
- Pilot certificates: Private pilot
- Pilot flight hours: 105 total
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20230120005329I

## Narrative

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

PILOT STATED THAT HE HAD DEPARTED PROPWASH AIRPORT FOR BRIDGEPORT. HE WAS CRUISING AT 3,200 FT WHEN HIS EXHAUST GAS TEMPERATURES STARTED CLIMBING AND PEGGED INTO THE RED. HE STARTED A TURN TO GO BACK TO PROPWASH WHEN HE STARTED LOSING POWER. HE SAW A RUNWAY AND TRIED TO MAKE IT TO THE RUNWAY. PILOT STATED THE ENGINE LOST POWER BUT HE WAS NOT SURE IF IT WAS STILL RUNNING OR NOT.

ON SITE, AIRCRAFT WAS SITTING APPROXIMATELY ONE QUARTER MILE OFF THE APPROACH END OF RUNWAY 17 AT 6XS7. THE AIRCRAFT APPEARED TO HAVE TOUCHED DOWN AND DURING ROLLOUT, STRUCK A LOW BERM. THE RIGHT MAIN LANDING GEAR WAS JUST PAST THE BERM APPROXIMATELY 100 FEET FROM THE AIRCRAFT. THE LEFT MAIN LANDING GEAR WAS BROKEN BUT STILL ATTACHED TO THE AIRCRAFT. THE NOSE GEAR MOUNT HAD FOLDED. TWO OF THE THREE PROPELLER BLADES HAD DAMAGE INDICATIVE OF HITTING THE GROUND WITHOUT BEING UNDER POWER. THERE WAS NO OTHER APPARENT DAMAGE TO THE AIRCRAFT. THE LEFT AND RIGHT WING TANKS SHOWED EVIDENCE OF FUEL. THE HEADER TANK WAS MORE THAN HALF FULL OF FUEL. THE FUEL FILTER DRAINED FUEL WHEN THE BOWL DRAIN WAS OPENED. THE ENGINE OIL DIPSTICK SHOWED LOW OIL WHICH COULD HAVE BEEN DUE TO THE ANGLE THE AIRCRAFT WAS SITTING AT.

AFTER THE AIRCRAFT WAS MOVED TO A HANGAR, WE VERIFIED THERE WAS NO SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE AIRCRAFT. REVIEWED ENGINE DATA DOWNLOAD. THE DATA SHOWS THE ENGINE OPERATING NORMALLY UNTIL APPROXIMATELY THE 18 MINUTE MARK, AT THIS TIME THE MANIFOLD PRESSURE AND THE EXHAUST GAS TEMPERATURE STARTED TO FLUCTUATE. AT AROUND THE 19 MINUTE MARK, THE MANIFOLD PRESSURE SPIKED TO 39.5 PSI THEN DROPPED AND THE EXHAUST GAS TEMPERATURE BEGAN DROPPING RAPIDLY. THIS CORRESPONDS TO THE TIMES WHERE THE PILOT STARTED HIS TURN BACK TO PROPWASH AIRPORT AND THEN MADE AN EMERGENCY LANDING IN THE FIELD.

## Other reports on N121DF (1)

Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.

- [Accident 20250411013939A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20250411013939A), Apr 11, 2025: Freeman Darcy L SABERWING (N121DF), Justin, TX, Destroyed, 1 fatal. On April 11, 2025, at approximately 1915 central daylight time, a Saberwing, experimental amateur built aircraft, had an off-field accident near Propwash…

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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