16 May 2020: VAUGHN Challenger Special

16 May 2020: VAUGHN Challenger Special (N97KV) — Unknown operator

No fatalities • Clarksville, TN, United States

Probable cause

The loss of engine power due to carburetor ice.

— NTSB Determination

Accident narrative

On May 19, 2020, at 0920 central daylight time, an experimental amateur-built Challenger Special, N97KV, was involved in an accident near Titan Field (TN23), Clarksville, Tennessee. The pilot and the passenger sustained minor injuries. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. According to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) aviation safety inspector, the pilot provided a written statement and discussed the accident with him. The pilot stated that he completed a 30-minute local flight and returned to TN23 for landing. He described the descent and the arrival over the river that ran perpendicular to the approach end of the landing runway, which had ponds bordering both sides at the departure end. The pilot said he planned a "tight" base turn and then a low approach down the turf runway to alert fisherman along runway's edge. The pilot performed the descent, the approach, aligned his airplane with the runway and flew the length of the runway at a power setting of approximately "70 percent." At the completion of the low pass, and "2-3 seconds into the climb" the pilot said he noticed a "lack of climb performance with full power applied." The pilot initially turned to avoid powerlines and trees at the departure end of the field but selected the trees as his forced landing site. When asked about the performance and handling of the airplane, the pilot said "Everything was fine until …" he increased throttle for the climb. The airplane was powered by a Rotax 503 50-horsepower engine that was not equipped with carburetor heat. At 0956, the temperature recorded at Fort Campbell Army Airfield (KHOP) was 25°C (77°F), and the dew point was 20°C (68°F). Interpolation of an carburetor icing probability chart contained in FAA Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin CE-09-35 revealed that atmospheric conditions at the time of the accident were conducive to "serious icing at glide power." After the accident, continuity of the flight control system was confirmed by the FAA aviation safety inspector, and a successful post-accident engine run was performed on the airframe with no anomalies noted that would have precluded normal operation.

Contributing factors

  • Effect on operation
  • Pilot

Conditions

Weather
VMC, wind 120/06kt, vis 10sm

Loading the flight search…

What you can do on Flight Finder

  • Search flights between any two airports with live fares.
  • By aircraft — pick a plane model (e.g. Boeing 787, Airbus A350) and see every route it flies from your origin.
  • Route map — click any airport worldwide to explore its destinations, or draw a radius to find nearby airports.
  • Global aviation safety — aviation accident database, 5,200+ records since 1980, with map and rankings by aircraft and operator.
  • NTSB safety feed — recent U.S. aviation accidents and incidents from the official NTSB CAROL database, updated daily.

Frequently asked questions

How do I search flights by aircraft type on FlightFinder?

Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.

Which aircraft types can I filter by?

We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.

Is FlightFinder free to use?

Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.

Where does the route data come from?

Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.