- Date
- March 21, 1992, 16:15 local (20:15 UTC)
- Place
- Fairbanks, AK
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N30781Gerald G. Holland Challenger II
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 26, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Case key
- 5700
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Excessive taxispeed and directional control was not maintained. Factors to the accident were: lack of familiarization with aircraft and inadequate airspeed.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
During a familiarization high speed taxi test with approximately half the throttle advanced, the airplane became airborne and drifted to the left of the runway. The pilot attempted to maneuver the airplane back over the runway, however, there was no aileron response as the airplane continued to climb in a left turn. The airplane then started to lose altitude and the left wing and then the nose of the airplane collided with the ground. During the post-crash inspection, there was no evidence to indicate a mechanical failure or malfunction.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N30781
- Reported as
- Gerald G. Holland Challenger II (CHALLENGER)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 679
- Airframe hours
- 2
- Engine
- Rotax 503, 46 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Holland, Gerald G.
- Registered owner
- Holland, Gerald G.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Unknown · January 2, 2000
- Airport
- FAI · Fairbanks, runway 19, 3,200 × 60 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 72
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 279 total · 205 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 190° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 80 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 34 °F, dew point 14 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg