Just Aircraft Highlander, N7514N: Fatal accident occurred July 18, 2022 in Boswell, Oklahoma

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.

Investigator In Charge (IIC): Hodges, Michael

The National Transportation Safety Board traveled to the scene of this accident.

Additional Participating Entity:

Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

https://registry.faa.gov/N7514N

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Location: Boswell, Oklahoma

Accident Number: CEN22LA321

Date and Time: July 17, 2022, 20:00 Local

Registration: N7514N

Aircraft: Just Highlander 

Injuries: 2 Fatal

Flight Conducted Under: Part 91: General aviation - Personal

On July 17, 2022, about 2000 central daylight time, a Just Highlander airplane, N7514N, sustained substantial damage when it was involved in an accident near Boswell, Oklahoma. The pilot and student pilot sustained fatal injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.

According to the family members and friends of the two occupants, the purpose of the local area flight was to conduct low-level flight operations over and on the Red River. The Red River flows from the west to the east and separates Oklahoma and Texas. The experimental tailwheel airplane was equipped with tundra tires, that facilitates off-airport landings and takeoffs.

The airplane departed from the Jones Field Airport (F00), Bonham, Texas, around 1925. The pilot was seated in the left seat and the student pilot was seated in the right seat. The student pilot texted a family member at 1928, that the airplane was airborne. The expected return time back to F00 was undetermined.

After not hearing back from either occupant, concerned family members initiated a search and found the wreckage around 0200 on July 18, 2022. The airplane had come to rest, nose down with the empennage in a near vertical position, on a remote island in the Red River. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and to both wings. The wreckage is pending recovery for a future examination.

A review of astronomical data showed that on the day of the accident, sunset was at 2035. The estimated density altitude for the accident site was 3,060 ft above msl.

Aircraft and Owner/Operator Information

Aircraft Make: Just 

Registration: N7514N

Model/Series: Highlander No Series

Exists Aircraft Category: Airplane

Amateur Built: Yes

Operator: On file

Operating Certificate(s) Held: None

Operator Designator Code: None

Meteorological Information and Flight Plan

Conditions at Accident Site: VMC

Condition of Light: Day

Observation Facility, Elevation: KHHW,571 ft msl

Observation Time: 20:01 Local

Distance from Accident Site: 15 Nautical Miles

Temperature/Dew Point: 34°C /19°C

Lowest Cloud Condition: Clear

Wind Speed/Gusts, Direction: 3 knots / , 210°

Lowest Ceiling: None 

Visibility: 10 miles

Altimeter Setting: 29.83 inches Hg 

Type of Flight Plan Filed: None

Departure Point: Bonham, TX (F00)

Destination: Boswell, OK

Wreckage and Impact Information

Crew Injuries: 2 Fatal 

Aircraft Damage: Substantial

Passenger Injuries: N/A 

Aircraft Fire: None

Ground Injuries: N/A

Aircraft Explosion: None

Total Injuries: 2 Fatal

Latitude, Longitude: 33.863891,-95.755002 (est)

Aircraft crashed under unknown circumstances. 

Date: 18-JUL-22

Time: 08:12:00Z

Regis#: N7514N

Aircraft Make: EXPERIMENTAL

Aircraft Model: HIGHLANDER

Event Type: ACCIDENT

Highest Injury: FATAL

Total Fatal: 2

Flight Crew:  1 Fatal 

Pax: 1 Fatal

Aircraft Missing: No

Damage: DESTROYED

Activity: UNKNOWN

Flight Phase: UNKNOWN (UNK)

Operation: 91

City: BOSWELL

State: OKLAHOMA

Those who may have information that might be relevant to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation may contact them by email witness@ntsb.gov, and any friends and family who want to contact investigators about the accident should email assistance@ntsb.gov. You can also call the NTSB Response Operations Center at 844-373-9922 or 202-314-6290.

Hadley “Had” Wade Garrett Workman, age 20, of Ravenna, Texas,  was born on October 9, 2001 in Sherman, Texas to Jerry Samuel Workman Jr. and Amanda Ann (Hale) Workman. He gained his wings and entered Heaven on Monday, July 18, 2022.

Hadley was a 2020 graduate of Leonard High School, where he went to state in power lifting. Hadley was a farm hand and worked for D. J. Family Farms as a spray operator. Hadley was working on attaining his pilot license with plans of becoming a commercial pilot.

Hadley had the most contagious smile and laugh; he was a very lively, passionate, and hard-working young man. Hadley enjoyed hunting, fishing, and flying.  He also loved spending time with friends down on the river. Hadley loved immensely and in return is very loved and will be greatly missed. He is of the Baptist faith.

Hadley is survived by his father Jerry Workman and wife Mandy of Ravenna; mother Amanda Workman of Ravenna; brothers, Ike Workman, Witt Workman, and Waylon Sadler; sister, Cecily Blount; grandparents, Emma Workman, Jerry and Beth Hale, Mickey and Linda Workman, and Gary and Carla Patton; aunt Lindsey Dobbles and husband Shawn; uncles Corey Patton and wife Lacie, Jerry Hale Jr. and wife Miranda, Nathan Hale and wife Lacie; Jim Workman and wife Michele, Michael Workman, Steven Alyea and wife Lindley; in addition to numerous extended family members and many friends.

Hadley is preceded in death by grandfather, Jerry Workman Sr.

Visitation will be on Friday, July 22, 2022 at Boyd Baptist Church from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

Funeral services will be at 4:00 pm on Saturday, July 23, 2022 at Boyd Baptist Church. Pastor Jacob Toews will officiate. Committal will follow at New Hope Cemetery.

Serving as pallbearers will be Jay Norman, Jarett Prock, Luke Wilson, Cody Blount, Colton Hale, and Logan Hale.

Serving as honorary pallbearers will be Kenny Kahran, Calvin Reynolds, Jose Alba, Steve Key, Clayton McCraw, Hayden Graham, Nolan Prater.

Ryan Scott Richardson, age 28, of Bonham, Texas, was born on June 17, 1994, in Durant, Oklahoma to Bobby Ray and Angela Denise Ooten Richardson.  Ryan gained his wings and was welcomed into Heaven on Monday, July 18, 2022.  

Ryan was a 2013 graduate of Achille High School and utilized that knowledge by successfully starting and maintaining his own business. Ryan was a baptized believer and was blessed to be baptized by his grandfather, Ray Richardson at the Northside Church of Christ when he was a teenager. Ryan was an entrepreneur at a very young age.   He was the owner - operator of R & R Custom Boats where he was blessed to be doing work that he both enjoyed and demonstrated skill in building, testing, and operating airboats.  

Ryan had an easy-going personality that drew people to him.  He made friends easily, was extremely loyal to them and those he cared for. Ryan was an only child but had many brothers due to the strong friend base around him. Ryan surrounded himself with fine young men who were loyal, dependable, and reputable. They enjoyed working with him in his shop on projects of many kinds.    

Ryan was widely recognized as being talented at anything that caught his interest. He attempted anything and everything that involved hands-on mechanical skills.  Ryan had an adventurous spirit and zest for life. He had a passion for riding dirt bikes, riding four wheelers, hunting, bow fishing, snowboarding, and flying airplanes.  He was skilled and learned easily how to do these things that he loved.  

Ryan laughed easily, cared deeply, was friendly and never failed to acknowledge people.  He had a well-developed sense of fun and humor.  He saw people and enjoyed them.  He had a passion for life and never failed to live life to the fullest.  People were drawn to him and enjoyed time spent with him.

Ryan was and remains deeply loved by all family and friends.  He leaves a legacy of love, loyalty, laughter, and living life to the fullest.  He will be dearly missed but his memory will live forever. Ryan is survived by his parents Bobby and Angie Richardson of Bonham; his paternal grandparent Ray and wife, Betty Richardson of Honey Grove; his maternal grandparents Larry and Ann Ooten of Cartwright; his aunt Stephanie Ooten of Cartwright; cousins Wyatt Measles, currently serving in the United States Marines and Heather Holt of Blue Ridge, Texas; in addition of numerous friends who considered him family.

Ryan was preceded in death by his grandmother, Wanda Richardson, and his uncle, Carl Richardson.

A celebration of life will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 23, 2022 at the Northside Church of Christ in Bonham, Texas.  Pastor Jacob Toews will officiate.

Ryan's service will be live Streamed on Northside Church of Christ, Bonham, TX Youtube channel. 

Hadley “Had” Wade Garrett Workman

DURANT, Oklahoma - A plane crash in the Red River early Monday morning left two people dead.

Ryan Richardson and Hadley Workman were two young men with a passion for flying planes.

Richardson was the first to enroll in flight lessons with flight instructor Jacob Toews.

“He was so sharp on picking up things,” Toews recalls. “He could do anything. I mean, literally anything.”

Then along came Workman, who recently started taking flight lessons with his mother.

“He was a bright student as well. He had taken his last lesson with me last Saturday.”

But on Sunday night something went tragically wrong. The single engine plane Richardson was piloting went down in the Red River, killing both Richardson and Workman.

While the investigation is ongoing, Toews tries his best to make sense of it all.

“I figure they were probably doing landings on the sandbars in the river there, which is a really fun activity. So, I have no clue what happened because he was such a good pilot.”

As Toews mourns the loss of his two students, he will remember them as being innovative young pilots who were taken away too soon.

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