Rutan LONG-EZ N88LE

Summary

On 1 February 2025 at about 19:50 local time, a Rutan LONG-EZ registered N88LE was involved in an accident near Sparta, Illinois, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was destroyed. No probable cause has been published yet; this accident is still under investigation.

Date

1 February 2025 at 19:50

Classification

Accident

Location

Sparta, Illinois, United States

Nearest airport

Sparta Community Airport - Hun (SAR)

Coordinates

38.1489, -89.6985

Aircraft

Rutan LONG-EZ

Registration

N88LE

Category

Airplane

Year built

1986

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN25LA090

Nobody was injured.

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

The pilot reported that he taxied to the runway and performed an engine runup. During the runup, the pilot noticed that one of the magnetos was not operating properly, so he started to taxi back to his hangar. While taxing back to the hangar, he smelled burning wire insulation, and shortly after the engine stopped. He attempted to restart the engine three times. On the third restart attempt, he noticed that flames were coming out from the right wing near the fuel cap. He immediately exited the airplane and called the fire department. The airplane was destroyed by the fire. Due to the damage caused by the fire, an examination of the airplane components to determine the source of the fire was not possible.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.