Hughlett CHALLENGER II N890JH

Summary

On 10 August 1995 at about 14:00 local time, a Hughlett CHALLENGER II registered N890JH was involved in an accident near Madisonville, Kentucky, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

10 August 1995 at 14:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Madisonville, Kentucky, United States

Coordinates

37.3296, -87.5008

Aircraft

Hughlett CHALLENGER II

Registration

N890JH

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Nortonville → Greenville

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

BFO95LA079

1 person died.

an intermittent short of the ignition system, due to improper maintenance/modification of the engine, which resulted in partial loss of engine power; and failure of the pilot to maintain adequate airspeed, which resulted in an inadvertent stall and collision with the ground. A factor relating to the accident was: the pilot's lack of recent flight experience.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Witnesses reported that they heard intermittent engine sounds and observed the airplane descending towards the ground at a steep angle. Postaccident examination revealed that it had impacted with little forward movement. No evidence of preimpact airframe anomaly was found. The accident flight was the first flight after the student pilot/owner/builder converted the engine to a dual ignition/spark plug system. Examination of the ignition system revealed that the wires going to the magnetic pickups were pinched between the housing and the crankcase mounting surface, and the wire insulation was broken. An FAA Inspector stated that the owner/builder had not followed the manufacturer's recommendation to file a bevel into the edge of the housing during the ignition system conversion. FAA records indicated that the owner/builder had approximately 30 hours total flight time, and relatives reported that he had not flown the accident airplane for about two years.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.