Hudspeth Shawn D CHALLENGER II N44594

Summary

On 21 November 2006 at about 20:53 local time, a Hudspeth Shawn D CHALLENGER II registered N44594, operated by Tom Rudolph Slagle, was involved in an accident near Bessemer, Alabama, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

21 November 2006 at 20:53

Classification

Accident

Location

Bessemer, Alabama, United States

Nearest airport

Bessemer Airport (EKY)

Coordinates

33.3078, -86.9222

Aircraft

Hudspeth Shawn D CHALLENGER II

Registration

N44594

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Tom Rudolph Slagle

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Dewitt → Bessemer

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ATL07CA023

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane during an approach for landing. A factor in the accident was gusting winds.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The non-certificated pilot stated that "I lost control of my [air]craft on approach to Bessemer Airport on runway 5. There was a strong crosswind from the west causing severe rotor turbulence. This caused the aircraft to alternated balloon and sink and I added power to regain stable flight causing a yaw to the left from which I could not recover. I hit the ground shortly before striking a pine tree on the left side of the runway. The impact with the tree severed the left wing and caused the remainder of the [air]craft to spin to the left and come to rest a short distance from the tree." There were no mechanical problems discovered during the post-accident examination of the airplane. Winds were 250-degrees at 8 knots, gusting to 15 knots.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.