Aircraft Mfg & CH601XL SLSA N4218

Summary

On 10 December 2016 at about 00:19 local time, a Aircraft Mfg & CH601XL SLSA registered N4218 was involved in an accident near Marengo, Illinois, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

10 December 2016 at 00:19

Classification

Accident

Location

Marengo, Illinois, United States

Coordinates

42.2256, -88.6275

Aircraft

Aircraft Mfg & CH601XL SLSA

Registration

N4218

Category

Airplane

Year built

2008

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Poplar Grove → Schaumburg

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

CEN17FA053

1 person died.

A loss of control in flight for reasons that could not be determined because no anomalies consistent with a preimpact failure or malfunction were identified during the investigation.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The light sport pilot decided to conduct a night cross-country flight in his light sport airplane even though he was not current to act as pilot-in-command at night. Radar data depicted the airplane departing after sunset and proceeding along the intended route of flight. The last radar contact was at 3,500 ft above mean sea level (msl), about 2,600 ft above ground level, about 0.5 mile from the accident site. There were no witnesses to the accident, and the wreckage was located the following morning in a plowed field along the intended route of flight about 12.6 nautical miles from the departure airport. The impact damage to the airframe was consistent with the airplane impacting the terrain while inverted. A postaccident examination of the airframe and engine did not reveal any anomalies consistent with a preimpact failure or malfunction. The pilot's sport pilot certificate did not authorize him to fly at night. In conjunction with his private pilot training, he had an expired 90-day endorsement for night flight that was dated about 14 months before the accident. It is possible that the pilot became spatially disoriented and lost control of the airplane; however, given that the pilot had been flying at night and that there were no mechanical anomalies identified during the investigation, the reason for the loss of control could not be determined.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.