# NTSB CEN25LA383: Quad City Challenger, N65176, Crystal Mountain, MI, September 16, 2025 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Class 4 · Limited · Final report - Date: September 16, 2025, 16:28 local (20:28 UTC) - Place: Crystal Mountain, MI - Coordinates: 44.517801, -85.977494 - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=44.5178&lon=-85.9775&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Takeoff](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/300) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Defining event: [Takeoff: Loss of control in flight](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/240) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 1 uninjured - Status: Completed, report February 12, 2026 - Report: Approved by Office Director - Investigation class: Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish - NTSB office: Central Region - Parties: FAA FSDO - NTSB case key (mKey): 201025 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=CEN25LA383 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/201025/pdf - NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=201025 - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN25LA383 ## Probable cause The pilot’s failure to maintain aircraft control during initial climb. ## Findings NTSB's coded findings; those marked are part of the probable cause. - [Performance/control parameters: directional control](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062020): Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability · Not attained/maintained (probable cause); cases with it: [Lenhart Victor CHALLENGER II, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062020/cases.md?model=05676NC), [All aircraft, 3,958 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062020/cases.md) ## Sequence of events The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened. - [Takeoff: Loss of control in flight](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/240) (defining event); cases with it: [Lenhart Victor CHALLENGER II, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/240/sequence.md?model=05676NC), [All aircraft, 5,002 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/240/sequence.md) ## Analysis The pilot was performing a pre-buy flight in the amateur-built airplane. The takeoff roll was normal until the airplane accelerated between 25 to 50 mph, when the airplane required right rudder to maintain straight flight. After liftoff, without pilot input, the airplane veered left of the runway. The pilot applied right rudder and was able to get the airplane back over the runway. However, he lost control of the airplane as it turned to the left despite the application of full right rudder. The airplane continued to the left until it impacted terrain. The pilot reported having completed a preflight inspection and high-speed taxi prior to the flight, and he did not note any problems. He reported that after the taxi, the owner placed a flight manual into the airplane that he thought may have jammed the rudder. Postaccident examination did not locate a flight manual in the wreckage or surrounding area, and the owner stated that a firefighter had retrieved the manual but didn’t know where in the wreckage that the firefighter had retrieved it. The pilot later thought the vertical stabilizer had more play than expected but reported that the owner told him it was normal. A postimpact examination did not reveal any anomalies in the airplane’s aileron and elevator controls, and damage to the vertical stabilizer precluded a thorough inspection of the rudder system. The airplane’s trim tabs were not installed and were not required to be. The owner had only flown the airplane once in July 2025 and reported that the airplane required constant right rudder to maintain straight flight. The owner reported informing the pilot that the airplane required right rudder. The pilot reported that he was not informed that the airplane needed right rudder and that the trim tabs were not installed. According to the kit manufacturer, extra rudder input would be required when climbing the airplane with a high angle attack and high-power setting. The pilot had logged 22 hours in a different Challenger II in September 2024. In an article published by the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), Before You Fly: Thoughts on your first flight and the EAA Flight Advisor Program, they advise pilots that the “Statistics show that 20% of all homebuilt accidents happen during the first two flights and are usually caused by pilot error. Those pilot errors are almost always the result of a pilot flying an aircraft for which he or she wasn't qualified or with which he wasn't familiar. The same problem exists during the first flight of any unfamiliar aircraft, whether it is a homebuilt, vintage or ultralight. The first flight in an airplane might as well be a test flight because, for that pilot, it is a test flight.” ## Aircraft - Registration: [N65176](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N65176), registered now, S/N CH20889Y0448 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: QUAD CITY CHALLENGER (II) - Registry model: [Lenhart Victor CHALLENGER II](https://openairdocs.org/model/lenhart-victor-challenger-ii) (registry code 05676NC) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Bombardier ROTAX (ALL)](https://openairdocs.org/engine/bombardier-rotax-all) (registry code 09050, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane, amateur-built - Serial number: CH20889Y0448 - Year built: 1991 - Airframe hours: 129.5 - Engines: Rotax 503 50 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Personal, Part 91 - Registered owner: Longton Terry F - Airworthiness certificate: Special, Experimental (Special) - Last inspection: Condition, July 15, 2025 - Airport: 7Y2, Thompsonville - Equipment: Unknown ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 46; injuries: none; sport pilot, airline transport, flight instructor, commercial, remote; airplane ratings: multi-engine land, single-engine sea, single-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 1, without waivers/limitations; last flight review July 22, 2025; seat: front; flight hours: 8,500 total, 22 in this make and model, 8,000 as pilot in command, 100 in the last 90 days, 35 in the last 30 days ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 310° at 3 knots - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 75 °F, dew point 59 °F - Altimeter: 30.19 inHg - Observed at: KFKS, 12 nm away - METAR: METAR KFKS 162035Z AUTO 31003KT 10SM CLR 24/15 A3019 RMK AO2= ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20250916015049A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20250916015049A), Sep 16, 2025: Lenhart Victor CHALLENGER II, Thompsonville, MI, Substantial damage. Pilot was interested in buying the Challenger II amateur built airplane. Prior to takeoff he performed a pre-buy inspection, engine run up and performed a… ## Docket (5 files) The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 12, 2026, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=201025. 4.7 MB in all. - Pilot/operator aircraft accident report, NTSB form 6120.1 (item 1, PDF, 11 pages, 2.3 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=19600993&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=cen25la383%20form%206120_Redacted-Rel.pdf - Record of conversation pilot (item 2, PDF, 1 page, 67 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=19877971&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=ROC%20Pilot-Rel.pdf - Record of conversation owner (item 3, PDF, 2 pages, 67 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=19877907&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=ROC%20Owner-Rel.pdf - Record of conversation quad city aircraft corp (item 4, PDF, 2 pages, 69 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=19878029&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=ROC%20Quad%20City-Rel.pdf - Photos (item 5, PDF, 3 pages, 2 photos, 2.2 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=19878745&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=photos%20cenla383-Rel.pdf From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.