Orlican S R O M-8 EAGLE N974FL

Summary

On 28 July 2025 at about 20:24 local time, a Orlican S R O M-8 EAGLE registered N974FL, operated by Valiair LC Trustee, was involved in an accident near Lake Worth Beach, Florida, United States. 7 people were on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. No probable cause has been published yet; this accident is still under investigation.

Date

28 July 2025 at 20:24

Classification

Accident

Location

Lake Worth Beach, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Palm Beach County Park (LNA)

Coordinates

26.5999, -80.0730

Aircraft

Orlican S R O M-8 EAGLE

Registration

N974FL

Category

Airplane

Year built

2023

Engines

1

Operator

Valiair LC Trustee

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Flight Test

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Lake Worth Corridor → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA25LA278

1 person had minor injuries.

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 July 28, 2025, about 16:24 eastern daylight time, an Orlican M-8, N974FL, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Lake Worth Beach, Florida. The flight instructor sustained minor injuries, the private pilot sustained no injuries, and five people on the ground sustained minor injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 flight test. The pilot/owner reported that he had brought the airplane to the United States to have maintenance completed. During the maintenance work a new propeller was installed and the accident flight was a test flight with the pilot/owner and a flight instructor where they would calibrate the new propeller. The pilot/owner continued that after departing runway 10 at Palm Beach County Park Airport (LNA), West Palm Beach, Florida, about a minute into the flight they experienced a total loss of engine power. They performed a forced landing to a roadway near a park during which the airplane struck a tree and a vehicle on the roadway resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage, both wings, engine mount, and empennage. Postaccident examination of the airplane found there were about 27 gallons of 100LL aviation fuel present between both the wing fuel tanks. Postaccident photos showed that the electric fuel pump switch, avionics switch, and strobe switch were in the ON position. The pilot/owner reported that the airplane was usually used for “island hopping” in the Caribbean and that he would bring to the United States to have maintenance work completed. The airplane was retained for further examination.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.