Quad City Challenger accident near Castroville, TX
On October 23, 2012, a Quad City Challenger was involved in an accident near Castroville, TX. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- October 23, 2012
- Place
- Castroville, TX
- Aircraft
- Quad City Challenger · ULTR
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 29.426°N, 98.977°W
- NTSB ID
- 20121024X31022
Official records · CEN13LA029
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On October 23, 2012, about 1330 central daylight time, an unregistered Quad City Challenger ultralight impacted terrain at a private airstrip at Castroville, Texas. The pilot, the sole occupant on board, was fatally injured. The ultralight was substantially damaged. The ultralight was being operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and no flight plan had been filed. The cross country flight originated from the Roger M. Dreyer Memorial Airport (KT20), Gonzales, Texas, about 1230. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector who went to the scene, witnesses told him the airplane made a low pass over a private airstrip. The airplane then made a tight left 180-degree turn to final approach for landing. During the turn, the airplane stalled, entered a steep nose down descent, and made at least one-half turn to the left before impacting the ground. The ultralight had just been purchased and was being delivered to the new owner when the accident occurred. PERSONNEL INFORMATION The pilot, age 56, held a private pilot certificate with airplane single-engine land and instrument ratings. He also held a third class airman medical certificate with a restriction that corrective lenses be worn. According to FAA, the pilot had accrued 537 total flight hours, 30 hours within the previous 90 days, and a total of 3 hours in the airplane make and model, accumulated during the delivery flight. AIRCRAFT INFORMATION The ultralight was a
Probable cause
The pilot’s steep 180-degree turn to final approach for landing, which resulted in an inadvertent stall and spin at an altitude from which he could not recover.
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Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
