Luckey DRAGONFLY II N14U

Summary

On 26 July 1998 at about 15:45 local time, a Luckey DRAGONFLY II registered N14U was involved in an accident near Caro, Michigan, 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

26 July 1998 at 15:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Caro, Michigan, United States

Coordinates

43.4807, -83.3993

Aircraft

Luckey DRAGONFLY II

Registration

N14U

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Bellaire → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI98LA281

Nobody was injured.

an improper inflight decision when he mistook the road for the runway of the nearby airport to land on. A factor in this accident was the total failure of the engine's crankshaft.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot of a home built airplane said his engine began running rough during cruise flight. The pilot said he reduced power and diverted to a nearby airport to make a precautionary landing. The pilot said he mistook a road for the airport runway. During the approach to the road the pilot said he had to add power to clear electrical power lines. He said the engine ran rougher when he applied the power. Shortly after applying the power, the propeller and front section of the crankshaft departed the engine. The airplane landed on a road and ran off the end into a corn field. The fracture surface of the crankshaft was a dull gray color with a rough surface texture. The edge of the fracture surface had shear lips.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.