Bordiuk CHALLENGER II N635DT

Summary

On 16 April 2018 at about 02:00 local time, a Bordiuk CHALLENGER II registered N635DT was involved in an accident near Friona, Texas, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

16 April 2018 at 02:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Friona, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Hefner Farms (7TS9)

Coordinates

34.6083, -102.8661

Aircraft

Bordiuk CHALLENGER II

Registration

N635DT

Category

Airplane

Year built

1996

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Bovina → Bovina

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Dusk

NTSB number

CEN18FA140

2 people died.

An in-flight impact with terrain for reasons that could not be determined due to a lack of evidence.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor and the student pilot departed at sunset on a local flight in the airplane from a private airstrip adjacent to the flight instructor's home. About 25 minutes after takeoff, the flight instructor's sister was about 3 miles from the airstrip and observed the airplane fly over her position about 3 miles from the airstrip. She reported that the airplane was low, but nothing seemed unusual and both pilots waved to her. When the airplane did not return to the airstrip, the flight instructor's wife reported it overdue. The wreckage was located early the following morning. There were no known witnesses to the accident. Postaccident airframe and engine examinations did not reveal any anomalies consistent with a preimpact failure or malfunction. In the absence of any witnesses, or an identified preimpact failure or malfunction with respect to the airplane, the investigation was unable to determine the cause of the impact with the terrain. The student pilot's toxicology testing was positive for dextrorphan and doxylamine in liver tissue but not in cavity blood; however, the levels present were far too low to have had any significant effects.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.