25 May 2024: PULSAR SUPER PULSAR 100

25 May 2024: PULSAR SUPER PULSAR 100 (N912GR) — Unknown operator

No fatalities • Rochelle, IL, United States

Probable cause

A partial loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.

— NTSB Determination

Accident narrative

On May 25, 2024, about 0645 central daylight time, an experimental Pulsar Super 100 airplane, N912GR, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Rochelle, Illinois. The pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. The pilot stated that, during the initial climb, the engine began to lose partial power. About 800 ft above ground level, he turned onto the left crosswind leg of the traffic pattern with the intent of returning to land. Shortly after turning onto final approach, the airplane contacted the ground about 15 ft before the runway and 25 ft left of the runway centerline. The airplane impacted two runway lights, then skidded about 100 ft down the left side of the runway. The nose landing gear assembly separated from the airplane and the fuselage sustained substantial damage. The airframe and flight controls were examined after the accident and no anomalies were found. The responding FAA inspector completed an initial examination of the engine and found that the spark plug electrodes were dark grey in color. Compression and suction were attained on all four cylinders when the crankshaft was rotated by hand, and internal continuity was confirmed. None of the engine components examined exhibited any anomalies. Due to the damage, the inspector was unable to functionally test the ECU and associated sensors. About 12 gallons of fuel was recovered from the airplane. No water was present in the fuel when tested with water-finding paste. The fuel tank vents were clear of debris. Fuel system continuity from the fuel tanks to the engine was established using low pressure air. Both electric fuel pumps were functionally tested with no anomalies noted. The memory card from the Electronic Flight Instrument System (EFIS) was downloaded but contained no data relevant to the accident flight. The nonvolatile data from the ECU was downloaded and functionally tested by the engine manufacturer, ULPower. The ECU stored engine data from the previous 20 minutes (or 20 sessions). A session (or log) starts to record when the rpm of the engine is above 71.59. Examination of the ECU revealed that the engine was started and warmed up. Coil 2 was then switched off three times, consistent with a preflight check. About 5.5 minutes after engine start, the throttle position increased to wide open throttle, and the engine rpm increased to maximum, consistent with takeoff power. About one minute later, the throttle was set to a constant parameter, and the rpm dropped accordingly, consistent with a cruise power setting. About 7 minutes and 20 seconds after the recording began, and again at 8 minutes 10 seconds, a significant drop in rpm was noted; however, the rpm recovered and all other parameters remained constant. The engine stopped at 8 minutes, 25 seconds. During the recorded data, the engine check light was not activated, indicating that there were no sensor failures.

Contributing factors

  • Power plant

Conditions

Weather
VMC, wind 310/04kt, 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.