Lee JA30 SUPERSTOL N128EL

Summary

On 9 May 2025 at about 16:20 local time, a Lee JA30 SUPERSTOL registered N128EL, operated by Nicholas Berry, was involved in an accident near Evanston, Wyoming, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. No probable cause has been published yet; this accident is still under investigation.

Date

9 May 2025 at 16:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Evanston, Wyoming, United States

Nearest airport

Evanston-Uinta County Burns Fl (EVW)

Coordinates

41.2750, -111.0340

Aircraft

Lee JA30 SUPERSTOL

Registration

N128EL

Category

Airplane

Year built

2014

Engines

1

Operator

Nicholas Berry

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR25LA154

Nobody was injured.

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. The investigation is still open; a final report usually follows one to two years after the accident.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

On May 9, 2025, about 1020 mountain daylight time, an experimental amateur-built Just Aircraft Superstol, N128EL, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Evanston, Wyoming. The pilot and passenger were not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The pilot reported that shortly after departing runway 23 at the Evanston-Uinta County Burns Field (EVW), Evanston, Wyoming, and while in the crosswind leg of the traffic pattern about 250 ft above ground level, a puff of smoke came out from the top of the engine cowling followed by a total loss of engine power. The pilot advanced the throttle, pitched the nose down, and turned the airplane left towards runway 5. Subsequently, the pilot realized he was not going to make it to the runway and initiated a forced landing on a taxiway. The airplane landed hard and short of the taxiway on a hillside and sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The airplane was recovered to a secure location for further examination.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.