Duncan DX4 N4DX

Summary

On 22 September 1998 at about 00:00 local time, a Duncan DX4 registered N4DX was involved in an accident near Priest River, Idaho, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

22 September 1998 at 00:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Priest River, Idaho, United States

Nearest airport

Priest River Airport (1S6)

Coordinates

48.1294, -116.9910

Aircraft

Duncan DX4

Registration

N4DX

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA98LA185

1 person was seriously injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed which resulted in a stall/mush. Factors include allowing his attention to be diverted by what he perceived to be a lateral control problem.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

After turning downwind in the experimental aircraft, the pilot sensed that the lateral flight controls were not responding to his inputs as he thought they would. He therefore elected to continue around the pattern and land. Because he felt that a reduction in power positively effected the perceived control problem, he reduced power on downwind and then attempted to turn base. Witnesses said that the aircraft was going very slow prior to turning base, and that as it entered a left bank, it fell out of the sky. Just prior to impacting the ground, the aircraft rolled wings-level. No problem with the lateral flight control system was able to be identified, and no reason for the perceived lateral control anomaly was determined.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.