- Date
- November 21, 2006, 14:53 local (20:53 UTC)
- Place
- Bessemer, AL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N44594Hudspeth Shawn D Challenger II
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 26, 2007
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Birmingham FSDO
- FAA report
- 20061121025409A
- Case key
- 65008
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
The pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane during an approach for landing. A factor in the accident was gusting winds.
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
The non-certificated pilot stated that "I lost control of my [air]craft on approach to Bessemer Airport on runway 5. There was a strong crosswind from the west causing severe rotor turbulence. This caused the aircraft to alternated balloon and sink and I added power to regain stable flight causing a yaw to the left from which I could not recover. I hit the ground shortly before striking a pine tree on the left side of the runway. The impact with the tree severed the left wing and caused the remainder of the [air]craft to spin to the left and come to rest a short distance from the tree." There were no mechanical problems discovered during the post-accident examination of the airplane. Winds were 250-degrees at 8 knots, gusting to 15 knots.
Factual narrative
On November 21, 2006, at 1453 central standard time, a Challenger II, homebuilt experimental airplane, N44594, registered to a private owner, operating as a 14 CFR Part 91, personal flight, collided with trees during an approach to runway 5, at the Bessemer Airport in Bessemer, Alabama. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The airplane received substantial damage. The non-certificated pilot reported no injuries. The flight originated from Dewitt, Arkansas on November 21, 2006 at an undetermined time.
In a written statement the pilot stated "I lost control of my [air]craft on approach to Bessemer Airport on runway 5. There was a strong crosswind from the west causing severe rotor turbulence. This caused the aircraft to alternate, balloon, and sink, and I added power to regain stable flight causing a yaw to the left from which I could not recover. I hit the ground shortly before striking a pine tree on the left side of the runway. The impact with the tree severed the left wing and caused the remainder of the [air]craft to spin to the left and come to rest a short distance from the tree." Several attempts to contact the pilot by both the NTSB IIC and the FAA have been unsuccessful. The pilot did not compete an NTSB 6120.1/2 Accident Report.
A review of information on file with the FAA Airman's Certification Division, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, revealed that the pilot was denied a third class medical certificate in 1991, and surrendered his private pilot certificate to the FAA.
Examination of the airplane by an FAA Inspector found the left wing separated from the fuselage, along with the left wing strut. There were no mechanical problems discovered during the post-accident examination of the airplane.
The Shelby County Airport , Alabaster, Alabama, 1453 surface weather observation was wind 250-degrees at 8-knots, gusting to 15, visibility 10 miles, sky clear, temperature 39-degrees Fahrenheit, dew point temperature 37-degrees Fahrenheit, altimeter 30.26.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N44594
- Reported as
- Hudspeth Shawn D Challenger II
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- CHA-0704-2506
- Engine
- Rotax 503, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Tom Rudolph Slagle
- Registered owner
- Hudspeth Shawn D.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- Dewitt, AR
- Destination
- EKY · Bessemer, AL
- Airport
- EKY · Bessemer Airport, runway 5, 5,700 × 100 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
- 66
- Injuries
- None
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 500 total · 1 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 250° at 8 knots, gusting 15
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 39 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.26 inHg
- Observed at
- EKY
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.