Thursday, November 09, 2017

Quad City Challenger II, N518DT: Accident occurred August 05, 2014 in Winterhaven, Imperial County, California

The National Transportation Safety Board did not travel to the scene of this accident.

Additional Participating Entity:
Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; San Diego, California

Aviation Accident Factual Report - National Transportation Safety Board: https://app.ntsb.gov/pdf

Investigation Docket - National Transportation Safety Board: https://dms.ntsb.gov/pubdms

http://registry.faa.gov/N518DT



NTSB Identification: WPR14LA327
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Tuesday, August 05, 2014 in Winterhaven, CA
Aircraft: DAVID L THOMPSON CHALLENGER II, registration: N518DT
Injuries: 2 Serious.

NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On August 5, 2014, about 1020 Pacific daylight time, an experimental, David Thompson, Challenger II, N518DT, collided with terrain during a forced landing following a loss of engine power near Winterhaven, California. The private pilot and one passenger sustained serious injuries; the airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The owner/pilot was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. The cross-country personal flight departed Yuma, Arizona, about 0940, with a planned destination of El Cajon, California. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed.

The pilot reported that after refueling at Yuma International Airport (YUM) they departed and climbed to 6,500 feet when the engine suddenly quit. The pilot attempted to restart the engine but was unsuccessful. During the landing and while still 20 ft high, the airplane encountered a wind gust, impacted the ground hard, and nosed over.

PERSONNEL INFORMATION

AIRCRAFT INFORMATION

METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS

TESTS AND RESEARCH

The airplane structure was substantially damaged during the accident sequence, but the engine appeared to be undamaged. The airplane electrical system appeared to be intact, however during the prestart sequence, the number two electrical system would not activate properly. The number one system indicated an ignition fault, which investigators were unable to correct.

Several attempts to start the engine were unsuccessful; the engine would stumble, backfire, and stop. Investigators examined the sparkplugs and determined that only one set of the plugs were firing on each cylinder. The engine was flooding out and when the engine would start to run the exhaust was black in color. The Computer Engine Control (CEC) module did not contain nonvolatile memory, and it could not be determined if the CEC was functioning properly.








NTSB Identification: WPR14LA327
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Tuesday, August 05, 2014 in Winterhaven, CA
Aircraft: DAVID L THOMPSON CHALLENGER II, registration: N518DT
Injuries: 2 Serious.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

On August 5, 2014, about 1100 Pacific daylight time (PDT), an experimental David Thompson Challenger II, N518DT, crashed during a forced landing following a loss of engine power near Winterhaven, California. The owner/pilot was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. The private pilot and one passenger sustained serious injuries; the airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The cross-country personal flight departed Yuma, Arizona, about 1045, with a planned destination of El Cajon, California. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed.

The pilot reported that after refueling at Yuma International Airport (YUM) they departed and climbed to 6,500 feet when the engine suddenly quit. The pilot attempted to restart the engine but was unsuccessful. During the landing approach, about 20 feet agl, they encountered a wind gust, impacted the ground very hard, and nosed over.

The airplane was recovered for further examination.

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