Gregory Newman SONEX TRAINER accident near Carrabelle, FL
On February 5, 2018, a Gregory Newman SONEX TRAINER (airplane) was involved in an accident near Carrabelle, FL. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- February 5, 2018
- Place
- Carrabelle, FL
- Aircraft
- Gregory Newman SONEX TRAINER · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 29.842°N, 84.701°W
- NTSB ID
- 20180205X40240
Official records · ERA18LA083
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn February 5, 2018, at 1125 eastern standard time, an experimental, amateur-built Sonex Trainer airplane, N543SX, sustained substantial damage when it collided with terrain following a loss of engine power after takeoff from Carrabelle-Thompson Airport (X13), Carrabelle, Florida. The private pilot, who was also the owner and builder of the airplane, was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed near the airport and no flight plan was filed for the local flight, which was originating at the time of the accident. A witness, who was also a friend of the pilot, stated that the pilot had been having some mechanical issues with the engine and that the purpose of the flight was to test the engine. On the morning of the accident, the witness heard the pilot start the airplane's engine and taxi to runway 5. He did not hear the pilot perform any engine run-up or test run on the ground before departure, but the engine sounded "normal." The airplane then departed. When it was about halfway down the 4,000-ft-long runway, the witness heard the engine lose power. He stated that there was no sputter or sound of a rough-running engine, "the rpm just decelerated." The witness looked up and saw the airplane about 100 ft above the runway. Instead of landing on the remaining runway, the pilot made an "aggressive bank" to the left and the airplane stalled and descended "straight down" toward the ground. The airplane came to rest upright in heavily wooded, swampy terrai
Probable cause
A loss of engine power for reasons that could not be determined because the airplane was not recovered. Also causal was the pilot's decision to conduct a low-altitude turn following the loss of engine power, which resulted in an exceedance of the airplane's critical angle of attack and an aerodynamic stall.
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Browse: Florida
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
