Just HIGHLANDER N563JA

Summary

On 8 April 2026 at about 17:06 local time, a Just HIGHLANDER registered N563JA was involved in an accident near Great Falls, Montana, United States. One person was 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

8 April 2026 at 17:06

Classification

Accident

Location

Great Falls, Montana, United States

Nearest airport

Pvt (None)

Coordinates

47.3900, -111.3419

Aircraft

Just HIGHLANDER

Registration

N563JA

Category

Airplane

Year built

2023

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Great Falls → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR26LA152

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 April 8, 2026, about 1106 mountain daylight time, an experimental amateur built Just Aircraft Highlander, N563JA, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Great Falls, Montana. The pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The pilot reported that after he departed Great Falls International Airport (GTF), Great Falls, Montana, he intended to land on a private grass surface airstrip about 5.5 nautical miles to the southwest. While on the final approach to the grass airstrip, he applied right rudder pedal to enter a left wing low slip to perform a steep approach along with reducing the throttle to idle to minimize the airspeed. The pilot stated that when he decreased the throttle to idle, the engine lost total power. He aligned the nose of the airplane with the runway heading at the threshold, but the airplane’s airspeed was too fast. The airplane touched down in the last 1/3rd of the airstrip with the control stick full aft and he applied the brakes. Ground scars revealed that the nose of the airplane contacted the turf surface and skidded about six ft before the airplane nosed over near the departure end of the airstrip, which extended to the edge of the Missouri river. A review of the airplane’s maintenance logs indicated that a condition inspection was completed on December 8, 2025, and a new SkyTrax propeller speed reduction unit and friction clutch upgrade was installed on January 18, 2026. The wreckage has been recovered to a secure facility for further examination.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.