Snyder Robert L CHALLENGER II N381RS

Summary

On 7 April 2024 at about 13:20 local time, a Snyder Robert L CHALLENGER II registered N381RS was involved in an accident near Hendersonville, North Carolina, 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

7 April 2024 at 13:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Hendersonville, North Carolina, United States

Nearest airport

Hendersonville (0A7)

Coordinates

35.3187, -82.4610

Aircraft

Snyder Robert L CHALLENGER II

Registration

N381RS

Category

Airplane

Year built

2004

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

ERA24LA169

Nobody was injured.

A loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot departed with a tailwind from a 3,075 ft-long grass runway, climbed to about 150 ft above ground level (agl) at a speed of 41 miles per hour (mph) (the airplane’s stall speed was 37 mph), and initiated a left turn. The pilot said that during the turn, the engine rpm dropped, and he was concerned about colliding with powerlines and a motor park. Instead, he chose a 3 ft round table located on the back patio of a private residence as a target to “buff” the impact. The pilot said he lowered the nose and rolled the airplane left and “slipped” the airplane between the tall trees located in the backyard of the residence and impacted the table/patio, resulting in substantial damage to the left wing. Once the airplane was recovered from the patio, the pilot test ran the two-stroke engine on the airframe under the supervision of a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector. The engine started and ran at a high and low power setting. No mechanical deficiencies or malfunctions were noted during the engine test run that would have precluded normal operation at the time of the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.