- Date
- February 19, 2022, 11:15 local (17:15 UTC)
- Place
- Mountain Home, TX · Private property
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N438RNQuad City Challenger II
- Defining event
- Initial climb: Aerodynamic stall/spin
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA San Antonio FSDO
- FAA report
- 20220219002199A
- Case key
- 104673
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 non-certificated pilot’s exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack during the initial climb, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and loss of airplane control at too low of an altitude to recover.
Findings · 5
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The non-certificated pilot reported that during the initial climb after taking off, he lowered flaps and the airplane pitched up into a nose-high attitude. The pilot reduced power and attempted to land back on the runway, but the airplane exceeded its critical angle of attack, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and loss of airplane control at an altitude too low to allow for recovery. The airplane impacted trees and terrain. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right aileron, the left wing strut, and the fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe or the engine that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot reported that he had recently purchased and reassembled the airplane and had performed multiple takeoffs and landings before the accident takeoff. The pilot reported that the nose-high pitch after the flap application was “higher than expected.”
Aircraft
- Registration
- N438RN
- Reported as
- Quad City Challenger II (NO SERIES)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- CW 2677
- Built
- 2012
- Airframe hours
- 268
- Engine
- Rotax Aircraft Engines 503 Series, 52 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 23, 2017
- Airport
- None · Private Airstrip, runway 15/33, 1,200 × 50 ft, grass/turf
- Equipment
- Airframe parachute, Handheld GPS
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
- 68
- Injuries
- None
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 0 total · 0 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 350° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 54 °F, dew point 25 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.44 inHg
- Observed at
- KJCT, 22 nm away
- METAR
- KJCT 191651Z AUTO 35003KT 10SM CLR 12/M04 A3044 RMK AO2 SLP296 T01221044
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 21, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 109 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.