- Date
- May 21, 2023, 12:38 local (18:38 UTC)
- Place
- Spanish Fork, UT · Top of a hangar KSPK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N668LDCubcrafters CCX-2300
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20230521005159A
- Case key
- 192213
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 attempt an unfamiliar takeoff technique, his failure to maintain pitch control during takeoff, and his subsequent decision to retract flaps at a low altitude, which resulted in a descent into a building.
Findings · 5
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 reported that while attempting a “jump” takeoff, which he had only practiced with an instructor two years prior, the airplane assumed a nose high attitude and turned sharply to the left. The pilot pushed the stick forward and used rudder and ailerons to straighten the airplane, but his attempt to decrease the angle of attack was unsuccessful. He then retracted the flaps to “lower the nose,” and the airplane descended and impacted the top of a hangar, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage and left and right wings. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N668LD
- Reported as
- Cubcrafters CCX-2300 (NXCub)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- CCX-2300-0055
- Built
- 2022
- Airframe hours
- 58.9
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-390-X263 (D3B6), 215 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Unknown · July 26, 2022 · 51.1 hours before
- Departed
- KSPK · Spanish Fork, WA
- Destination
- U14 · Nephi, UT
- Airport
- KSPK · Spanish Fork Municipal Airport/Woodhouse Field, runway 30, 6,500 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, Satellite tracking device, Onboard weather, Electronic primary flight display, Electronic multifunction display, ADS-B, Angle of attack indicator, Auto-pilot, Data recorder, Electronic flight bag or handheld device
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
- 60
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Waiver time limited special
- Last flight review
- February 10, 2022
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 917 total · 36.3 in this make and model · 668.3 as pilot in command · 64.4 in the last 90 days · 15.8 in the last 30 days · 1.4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.11 inHg
- Observed at
- KSPK
- METAR
- METAR KSPK 211835Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 24/08 A3011 RMK AO2
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 20, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.7 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.