- Date
- May 4, 2025, 14:20 local (19:20 UTC)
- Place
- Crestview, FL · Exact location is pending
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N59BRArlie L Raber III Challenger 1
- Defining event
- Landing: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 6, 2025
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20250504004659I
- Case key
- 200130
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 decision to take off despite having problems controlling the airplane due to his physical stature.
Findings · 3
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 was having difficulty controlling the airplane’s rudder pedals due to his physical stature. After several taxi attempts up and down the runway, he elected to take off for a short flight. After becoming airborne, the pilot began to have yaw controllability problems. He attempted to land, but was unable to control the airplane’s movements effectively, as his knees were contacting the instrument panel, and his feet were wedged behind the rudder pedals. The airplane continued to fly over terrain about 6 feet above ground level. With trees approaching, the pilot pushed the nose of the airplane down resulting in a hard landing. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the forward portion of the fuselage and the left wing. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N59BR
- Reported as
- Arlie L Raber III Challenger 1
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 0501-CW-0756
- Built
- 2021
- Airframe hours
- 53
- Engine
- Rotax 503 SERIES, 52 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental light sport (Special)
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- FD93 · Yellow River Airstrip
- Equipment
- Electronic multifunction display, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, 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
- 77
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Seat
- Single
- Restraint
- None
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.89 inHg
- Observed at
- CEW, 3 nm away
- METAR
- KCEW 041953Z AUTO 10SM CLR 26/08 A2989 RMK AO2 SLP120 T02560078
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 6, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.9 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.