- Date
- January 31, 1992, 16:39 local (23:39 UTC)
- Place
- Aztec, NM
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N121WEAir Trans. White Lightning
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 23, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19920131001489A
- Case key
- 18322
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 inadvertent stall and the pilot's lack of experience in the accident aircraft.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
Witnesses saw the airplane execute a slip while on final approach. The high performance home built airplane was then observed to stall and roll off on one wing. The private pilot who was also an A&P mechanic who had worked on the airplane was on his first flight in the aircraft. The owner had told the pilot not to fly the airplane prior to his arrival. The designer stated during the investigation that under no circumstances should the airplane ever have been slipped.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N121WE
- Reported as
- Air Trans. White Lightning (WHITE LIGH)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 76
- Airframe hours
- 150
- Engine
- Continental IO-360-A, 210 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Air Transportation, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Air Transportation, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 1, 1991
- Airport
- Q19 · Aztec Muni, runway 26, 4,300 × 50 ft, asphalt
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
- 51
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 1,600 total · 1 in this make and model · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 290° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 50 °F, dew point 23 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FMN, 11 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.