- Date
- April 15, 1990, 13:15 local (20:15 UTC)
- Place
- Moscow, ID
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N52744Truckee Meadows Tierra II
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 30, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900415008859A
- Case key
- 41187
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 did not maintain a proper airspeed during the climb to cruise.
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
During a cross country flight shortly after take off, the airplane was observed in a climbing turn. During the turn the nose of the airplane went up then dropped nearly straight to the ground. The engine was heard to be running to the point of collision. Examination of the wreckage did not reveal evidence of mechanical failure or malfunction.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N52744
- Reported as
- Truckee Meadows Tierra II
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 3385324
- Engine
- Rotax 6-823-950, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Benham, Van S.
- Registered owner
- Freilgn, Dan
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- NONE · Viola, ID
- Destination
- LWS · Lewiston, ID
- Airport
- NONE
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
- 55
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 250 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 50° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 15,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PUW, 5 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.