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CEN14CA413

2014-08-06 · Three Rivers, Michigan, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport HAI

Current FAA registration · N2552S

Make / Model
PHANTOM AIRCRAFT CO PHANTOM X-1
Year of manufacture
1984 · 30 years old at event
Engine
ROTAX 503 DCDI (52 hp)
Seats / Engines
1 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
20070711
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A26CC0

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot did not maintain adequate airspeed while flying a visual pattern, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and subsequent loss of control.

Factual narrative

The pilot flew a visual traffic pattern to a grass runway utilized by a combination of light sport aircraft, powered parachutes, and radio controlled aircraft. While on downwind at 400 feet above ground level, the pilot noticed three ground vehicles parked in a lot often used by pilots when they flew radio controlled aircraft. As he searched for possible radio controlled aircraft, the pilot became distracted and allowed his airspeed to decrease, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall. The pilot was unable to regain control and the airplane subsequently impacted a line of trees. The pilot flew a visual traffic pattern to a grass runway utilized by a combination of light sport aircraft, powered parachutes, and radio controlled aircraft. While on downwind at 400 feet above ground level, the pilot noticed three ground vehicles parked in a lot often used by pilots when they flew radio controlled aircraft. As he searched for possible radio controlled aircraft, the pilot became distracted and allowed his airspeed to decrease, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall. The pilot was unable to regain control and the airplane subsequently impacted a line of trees. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Airspeed-Not attained/maintained - C
  • — Personnel issues-Psychological-Attention/monitoring-Attention-Pilot

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2014_CEN14CA413.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (stall, loss of control). All research papers