Accident Details
On July 21, 2013, at about 0700 eastern daylight time, an amateur-built Cooper Challenger II airplane, registration N1519, impacted terrain near Mill Creek, Indiana. The non-certificated pilot was fatally injured, and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The aircraft was registered to and operated by the pilot under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and the flight operated without a flight plan.
The flight originated from Jerry Tyler Memorial Airport (3TR) in Niles, Michigan, at about 0630, with an intended destination of Plymouth Municipal Airport (C65) in Plymouth, Indiana. The airplane departed 3TR in company with another airplane en route to the same destination. When the accident airplane did not arrive at C65, a search was initiated, and the wreckage was located in a corn field near Mill Creek, Indiana. No witnesses to the accident were identified.
Aircraft Examination
Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the fuel tank contained no fuel, and no fuel was found in the carburetor bowl. No evidence of a fuel spill was detected at the accident site. Further examination of the airframe and engine did not reveal any pre-impact anomalies or mechanical failures.
Pilot Information
The pilot held a second-class medical certificate issued on March 27, 2013, with a limitation requiring corrective lenses. However, there was no record of the pilot having been issued a pilot certificate by the Federal Aviation Administration. A pilot flight logbook was recovered from the wreckage and showed that the pilot had received flight training in Cessna 172 airplanes between March 14, 2013, and April 27, 2013. During that period, the pilot accumulated 14.1 hours of flight time in Cessna 172s and soloed a Cessna 172 on March 30, 2013. The logbook also indicated that the pilot had flown the accident airplane for about 11 hours between May 5, 2013, and May 25, 2013, which was the most recent completed entry. The logbook contained an instructor endorsement for solo operations in Cessna 172 airplanes but no endorsement for solo operation in the accident airplane. There were no logged flights showing any flight training in the accident airplane or a similar model.