Hughlett CHALLENGER II accident near Madisonville, KY
On August 10, 1995, a Hughlett CHALLENGER II (airplane) was involved in an accident near Madisonville, KY. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- August 10, 1995
- Place
- Madisonville, KY
- Aircraft
- Hughlett CHALLENGER II · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 37.330°N, 87.501°W
- NTSB ID
- 20001207X04165
NTSB summary
On August 10, 1995, at about 1000 eastern daylight time, a Challenger II homebuilt airplane, N890JH, operated by the student pilot/owner/builder, descended into terrain near Madisonville, Kentucky. The student pilot, the sole occupant, was fatally injured, and the homebuilt airplane was destroyed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a flight plan was not filed. The personal flight was conducted under 14 CFR 91. The flight originated from Nortonville, Kentucky, exact time unknown. The intended destination was Greenville, Kentucky. According to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Air Safety Inspector, a witness reported that he saw the airplane operating at about 100 feet above the trees, and the engine sounds were intermittent. A second witness stated that he noticed the airplane flying at about 1000 feet above the ground when it made an abrupt "...nose dive." He stated that the engine was running. A third witness stated that he saw an airplane spiralling towards the ground at a steep angle. A search was initiated, and the wreckage was located later that afternoon. The wreckage was removed to a hangar at a nearby airport for postaccident examination. The FAA Inspector reported that during the postaccident examination, he established that control cable continuity to the flight controls existed prior to impact. He stated that the engine rotated, the spark plugs looked normal, and there was fuel present in the carburetor. The FAA Inspector noted that the student pilot/owner/builder had recently converted the engine to a dual ignition/spark plug system. The accide
Probable cause
an intermittent short of the ignition system, due to improper maintenance/modification of the engine, which resulted in partial loss of engine power; and failure of the pilot to maintain adequate airspeed, which resulted in an inadvertent stall and collision with the ground. A factor relating to the accident was: the pilot's lack of recent flight experience.
More accidents in KY
- Bombardier, Inc. CRJ-100, Aug 27, 2006
- Piper PA-31T2, Feb 17, 1982
- Cessna 401A, Aug 28, 2006
- Piper PA-32R-301T, Apr 3, 1988
- Piper PA-32R-301, Mar 22, 2004
Browse: Kentucky
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
