Airborne Windsports EDGE XT-912-L N912CV

On June 25, 2026, about 2000 central daylight time, an Airborne Windsports Pty Ltd Edge Xt-912-L weight-shift-control light sport aircraft, N912CV was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident at Winona Municipal Airport (ONA) Winona, Minnesota. The pilot was fatally injured. The aircraft was operated under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Before the flight, the pilot removed the Streak 3 king post wing that was on the aircraft for 2 years and installed an Arrow strutted wing. According to his friend, who witnessed the accident, the wing was replaced just before the accident flight, and the purpose of the flight was to test the new wing. The pilot replaced the wing because the strutted wing had a lower height clearance and made it easier to store the aircraft in the hangar. A second friend, who helped with the installation of the wing, said that they made sure that the wing was properly attached before the test flight. According to the friend who witnessed the accident, the pilot performed 2 “crow hops,” in the aircraft by taking off on runway 30 and immediately landing again on the runway before taking off a third time to fly the traffic pattern. The witness said that the “crow hops” and traffic pattern were unremarkable until the aircraft turned onto final approach. When the aircraft was on final approach, it looked like the pilot made a small correction and then banked to the left followed by a hard 90° bank to the right. The right wingtip impacted the ground first and the aircraft tumbled. The witness said that due to his location on the ground, he could not hear the aircraft engine, but he could see that the propeller was turning before and during the accident sequence. The wreckage came to rest about 140 ft north of runway 30. Initial impact was marked by a ground scar followed by a second ground scar about 3 ft southeast. Initial impact to the main wreckage was about 15 ft long. The debris path consisted of the right main landing gear and bits of blue plastic from the wheel fairings. The main wreckage came to rest inverted and consisted of the pilot and passenger pod, wing, left main landing gear, nose gear, engine, and 3-blade composite propeller. The wing was torn and folded in the direction of travel. The tips of the propeller blades were shorn off. The structural tubing was bent and/or broken. Two cables attached to the right side of the wing batten were broken and had a broom straw appearance. The fuel selector was in the “off” position because it was turned off by first responders. The ignition was in the “on” position. There was nothing found during the postaccident examination of the aircraft that would have precluded normal operation. According to the airframe logbook, the last annual inspection was performed in April 2024. A review of the pilot’s logbook revealed that the pilot had a total of 223 aircraft hours, 114 of which were in weight-shift-controlled aircraft. The pilot was issued a FAA second class medical in 1980. The medical had since expired. The pilot was permitted to fly light sport aircraft with a valid driver’s license and if in compliance with 14 CFR Part 61.53 “Prohibition on operations during medical deficiency” and other applicable FAA regulations. The aircraft was retained for further examination.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.