Skip to content

ERA25LA197

2025-05-04 · Crestview, Florida, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport FD93

Current FAA registration · N59BR

Make / Model
QUAD CITY ULTRALIGHT ACFT CORP CHALLENGER 1
Year of manufacture
2021 · 4 years old at event
Engine
ROTAX 503 SERIES (52 hp)
Seats / Engines
1 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
20210610
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A79B37

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s decision to take off despite having problems controlling the airplane due to his physical stature.

Factual narrative

The pilot was having difficulty controlling the airplane’s rudder pedals due to his physical stature. After several taxi attempts up and down the runway, he elected to take off for a short flight. After becoming airborne, the pilot began to have yaw controllability problems. He attempted to land, but was unable to control the airplane’s movements effectively, as his knees were contacting the instrument panel, and his feet were wedged behind the rudder pedals. The airplane continued to fly over terrain about 6 feet above ground level. With trees approaching, the pilot pushed the nose of the airplane down resulting in a hard landing. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the forward portion of the fuselage and the left wing. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • — Personnel issues-Physical-Physical characteristic-Size-Pilot
  • — Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Decision making/judgment-Pilot
  • — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Yaw control-Attain/maintain not possible

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2025_ERA25LA197.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.