Schaffer FISHER HORIZON 2 N428AP

Summary

On 4 October 2017 at about 16:08 local time, a Schaffer FISHER HORIZON 2 registered N428AP was involved in an accident near Eden Prairie, Minnesota, 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

4 October 2017 at 16:08

Classification

Accident

Location

Eden Prairie, Minnesota, United States

Nearest airport

Flying Cloud (FCM)

Coordinates

44.8558, -93.4839

Aircraft

Schaffer FISHER HORIZON 2

Registration

N428AP

Category

Airplane

Year built

2016

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Eden Prairie → Eden Prairie

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN18FA003

1 person died.

An inflight loss of control and collision with terrain for undetermined reasons after a thorough examination of the airplane's flight controls was unable to confirm control continuity. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's lack of experience in the accident make and model airplane and his lack of recent flight experience.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot built the airplane over a 24-year period; the accident occurred on the airplane's first flight after the pilot completed building it. The pilot aborted the first takeoff attempt for unknown reasons. During the second takeoff, the airplane was struggling to gain altitude, pitching up and down, and banking. Several witnesses reported hearing "good" engine sounds. Just before the impact, the airplane was in a steep nose-down, left descending spiral before it descended below the trees, followed by a plume of black smoke. The airplane's wooden structure was mostly destroyed by impact forces and postimpact fire. Portions of the flight control systems were found in the wreckage; however, it could not be determined if they were installed and rigged properly due to the amount of damage. Witnesses reported hearing the engine operating, and postaccident engine examination did not reveal evidence of any mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. Therefore, it is unlikely that the airplane experienced a loss of engine power. The pilot did not have any flight experience in the accident make and model airplane. Further, he had only flown for 4.8 hours in the 12 months before the accident flight. Although it is likely that the pilot's lack of recent flight experience and time in the airplane's make and model played a role in the accident, investigators were unable to determine the cause of the accident due to thermal damage to the airplanes flight controls.  

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.