- Date
- January 15, 2025, 10:30 local (16:30 UTC)
- Place
- Byron, IL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N749WJZenith Stol CH750
- Defining event
- Enroute-cruise: Loss of engine power (total)
- 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
- FAA report
- 20250115000759A
- Case key
- 199556
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 inadvertently moved the ignition key to the off position and broke the key, which resulted in a loss of engine power and subsequent forced landing.
Findings · 2
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 pilot reported that while in cruise flight, he noticed that his heavy keychain was pulling the key out of the ignition switch. He reached down to push the key back in, but inadvertently moved the key to the off position due to the thick glove on his hand, which resulted in a loss of engine power. When he attempted to reinsert the key and restart the engine, the key broke inside the ignition switch. He was unable to use the broken key to restart the engine. During the forced landing, the airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing. The pilot reported that there were no other mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N749WJ
- Reported as
- Zenith Stol CH750
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 75-7751
- Built
- 2012
- Airframe hours
- 560
- Engine
- UL Power 350i, 118 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 2, 2024
- Departed
- C73 · Dixon, IL
- Destination
- 1C8 · Rockford, IL
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Equipment
- Electronic primary flight display
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
- 69
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- BasicMed
- Last flight review
- November 11, 2023
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 654 total · 542 in this make and model · 654 as pilot in command · 18 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 11 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 16 °F, dew point 1 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.42 inHg
- Observed at
- KRFD, 9 nm away
- METAR
- KRFD 151654Z 21011KT 10SM CLR M09/M17 A3042 RMK AO2 SLP317 T10891167
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 12, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 10.7 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.