Event CEN25LA375

2025-09-11 Forest Lake, Minnesota, United States Airport · 25D Minor 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N442DU

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

JUST AIRCRAFT LLC HIGHLANDER

Year of manufacture

2025 · 0 years old at event

Engine

ROTAX 912ULS (100 hp)

Seats / Engines

2 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

20250227

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A55269

Registrant of record

DROESSLER JUSTIN G

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N442DU Just Aircraft Highlander Minor

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s failure to maintain directional control of the airplane during a gusty crosswind landing.

Factual narrative

The pilot was conducting a flight test of the experimental amateur-built airplane. He was returning to make a full stop landing when during the landing flare a wind gust from the right caused the airplane to drift left and depart off the left runway edge. The airplane then descended an embankment and nosed over. The upper portion of the rudder and a right-wing lift strut sustained substantial damage. The pilot did not report any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane. Based on the reported wind direction and speed at an airport located about 13 nautical miles from the accident site, there was likely a gusting left crosswind component of about 4 to 6 knots at the time of the accident. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

— Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained
— Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Crosswind-Effect on operation
— Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Gusts-Effect on operation

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2025_CEN25LA375.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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