- Date
- January 5, 2026, 15:45 local (21:45 UTC)
- Place
- Fredericksburg, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N351MTCanard Aero SW-51 Mustang
- Defining event
- Initial climb: Loss of engine power (total)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Investigation ongoing
- Investigation class
- Class 3
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA - SAT FSDO
- FAA report
- 20260105000229A
- Case key
- 202253
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Preliminary report
What NTSB knew early in the investigation. It may change in the final report.
On January 5, 2026, about 1545 central standard time, a Canard Aero LLC (Scalewings) SW-51 Mustang, N351MT, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Fredericksburg, Texas. The pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 flight test flight. The pilot reported that the accident flight was the first flight of the recently completed amateur-built airplane. He said that during initial climb after takeoff rotation the airplane’s engine lost power and he attempted to land the airplane on the remaining runway. During the landing the airplane’s left main landing gear was pushed through the top skin of the wing resulting in substantial damage. The airplane was retained for further examination.
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.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N351MT
- Reported as
- Canard Aero SW-51 Mustang
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- SW-51-044
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Flight test · Part 91
- Operator
- Canard Aero LLC
- Registered owner
- Canard Aero LLC
- Airport
- T82 · Gillespie County
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.
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 190° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.92 inHg
- Observed at
- KT82
- METAR
- METAR KT82 052135Z AUTO 19010KT 10SM CLR 22/14 A2992 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.