Hildebrandt RUTAN/DEFIANT N219DF

Summary

On 19 October 2002 at about 18:41 local time, a Hildebrandt RUTAN/DEFIANT registered N219DF was involved in an accident near Watkins, Colorado, 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

19 October 2002 at 18:41

Classification

Accident

Location

Watkins, Colorado, United States

Nearest airport

Front Range (FTG)

Coordinates

39.7853, -104.5431

Aircraft

Hildebrandt RUTAN/DEFIANT

Registration

N219DF

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Watkins → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN03LA010

Nobody was injured.

the pilot's failure to use the checklist, resulting in his forgetting to lower the nose landing gear. Contributing factors included the pilot's attention being diverted by the loss of oil pressure on the rear engine due to a broken oil pressure sensor line, and a broken throttle cable on the front engine, requiring an airborne shutdown using the ignition switches.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

After taking off on runway 26 and turning onto the crosswind leg, the pilot noticed the rear engine oil pressure was dropping. After turning onto the downwind leg, the pilot reduced power on the rear engine to idle. When he was on final approach and felt assured of landing on the runway, he shut down the rear engine. When he retarded the throttle on the front engine, he noticed power was not decreasing. He secured the front engine by turning off the ignition and glided to a landing but he forgot to lower the nose landing gear. The airplane touched down, the nose struck the runway, and the airplane skidded to a halt on the runway. The airplane's nose section, including the "Rhino" rudder, was crushed and several fuselage bulkheads were buckled. The front engine throttle cable was found broken, and there was a broken oil pressure sensor line in the rear engine.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.