# NTSB ERA26LA004: Pitts S1C, Mount Washington, KY, October 6, 2025

- Type: NTSB accident investigation
- Classification: Accident · No injuries · Class 3 · Limited · Preliminary report
- Date: October 6, 2025, 14:15 local (18:15 UTC)
- Place: Mount Washington, KY
- Coordinates: 38.048554, -85.54826
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=38.0486&lon=-85.5483&mi=10
- Phase of flight: [Enroute](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/400) (OpenAirDocs' grouping)
- Defining event: [Enroute: Loss of engine power (total)](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/341)
- Highest injury: No injuries
- Injuries: 1 uninjured
- Status: Investigation ongoing
- Investigation class: Class 3
- NTSB office: Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties: FAA/ FSDO, Lycoming Engines
- NTSB case key (mKey): 201808
- NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ERA26LA004
- NTSB preliminary report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/201808/pdf
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA26LA004

## Preliminary report

On October 6, 2025, about 1415 eastern daylight time, a Pitts S-1C Special, C-FAZJ, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident in Mt. Washington, Kentucky. The pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The pilot departed Bowman Field Airport, Louisville, Kentucky about 1400 and was following a Cessna 140 flown by a family member. They were destined for Middlesboro/Bell County Airport, Middlesboro, Kentucky. According to the pilot, while enroute, he applied power to the engine and noticed no change to engine performance. He reduced engine power, with no change in engine performance. The pilot informed the family member that he was having engine issues and asked him to declare a MAYDAY on his behalf with air traffic control. As the airplane descended, the pilot realized that the engine had lost all power and the propeller was windmilling. His attempts to restart the engine were unsuccessful. The pilot made a forced landing in a narrow field and impacted trees, which resulted in substantial damage to the left wings, fuselage, and empennage. The wreckage was retained for further examination.

## Sequence of events

The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened.

- [Enroute: Loss of engine power (total)](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/341) (defining event); cases with it: [All aircraft, 3,820 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/341/sequence.md)
- [Emergency descent: Controlled flight into terr/obj (CFIT)](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/120); cases with it: [All aircraft, 1,074 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/120/sequence.md)

## Aircraft

- Registration: C-FAZJ (not matched to a registry record)
- Reported make and model: PITTS S1C (NO SERIES)
- Category: Airplane
- Serial number: RA1933
- Year built: 1971
- Airframe hours: 610.3
- Damage: Substantial damage
- Flight: Ferry, Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate: Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection: Annual, August 31, 2025, 9 hours before
- Departed: LOU, Louisville, KY
- Destination: 1A6, Middlesboro, KY

## Weather

- Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day
- Wind: 120° at 7 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling: 4,000 ft overcast
- Temperature: 70 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter: 30.20 inHg
- Observed at: SDF, 12 nm away
- METAR: METAR KSDF 061756Z 12007KT 10SM -RA FEW009 OVC040 21/19 A3020 RMK AO2 RAE27B47 SLP224 P0001 60033 T02060189 10217 20189 58012 SPECI KSDF 061814Z 12007KT 2 1/2SM +RA BR FEW016 BKN040 OVC050 21/19 A3019 RMK AO2 P0001 T02060194

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.

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