- Date
- October 27, 2024, 09:15 local (16:15 UTC)
- Place
- West Wendover, NV · 13miles west of wendover airport on Utah side. Next to i80 mile marker 404
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N510DHBadlands Vaquero
- Defining event
- Enroute-cruise: Fire/smoke (non-impact)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Investigation ongoing
- Investigation class
- Class 3
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA RENO FSDO
- FAA report
- 20241027018329A
- Case key
- 195390
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Preliminary report
What NTSB knew early in the investigation. It may change in the final report.
On October 27, 2024, about 0915 Pacific daylight time, an experimental amateur-built Badlands Vaquero airplane, N510DH, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near West Wendover, Nevada. The pilot sustained minor injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The pilot reported that during cruise flight, about 3,000 ft above ground level, flames appeared from the right side of the engine cowling. The pilot shut the fuel and the engine off, initiated an emergency descent, and initiated a forced landing on an interstate service road. After he landed, the pilot evacuated the airplane, and the fire continued, which consumed a large portion of the airplane. The wreckage was recovered and will be examined at a later date. Figure 1. Accident Airplane (Courtesy of Nevada State Troopers)
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.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N510DH
- Reported as
- Badlands Vaquero
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 010
- Built
- 2024
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Fire
- Both
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- Wendover, NV
- Destination
- EKO · Elko, NV
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.
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 45 °F, dew point 21 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.11 inHg
- Observed at
- KEKO, 74 nm away
- METAR
- KEKO 271556Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 07/M06 A3011 RMK AO2 SLP182 T00721061
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.