NTSB CAROL · Event
Event WPR20CA132
Registry · N1222C
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
SONEX AIRCRAFT SONEX
Year of manufacture
2016 · 4 years old at event
Engine
JABIRU 3300 (120 hp)
Seats / Engines
2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
20160416
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A05DC1
Registrant of record
MILITANTE MICHAEL J
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
A gradual loss of engine power during takeoff due to the pressure regulator not keeping continuous fuel pressure which led to a precautionary off airport landing and collision with terrain.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that he returned from a local flight and was practicing touch-and-go landings. During the second takeoff, as the airplane gained altitude, the engine began to gradually lose power. Unable to return to the runway, the pilot initiated a precautionary landing to a strip of gravel that is perpendicular to the runway. During the landing, the right wing was substantially damaged. The pilot reported that he did not believe there was problem with the engine, but that the problem was with the fuel-to-air mixture caused by the fuel pressure regulator not keeping a continuous constant pressure that led to the gradual loss of engine power. The pilot reported that he returned from a local flight and was practicing touch-and-go landings. During the second takeoff, as the airplane gained altitude, the engine began to gradually lose power. Unable to return to the runway, the pilot initiated a precautionary landing to a strip of gravel that is perpendicular to the runway. During the landing, the right wing was substantially damaged. The pilot reported that he did not believe there was problem with the engine, but that the problem was with the fuel-to-air mixture caused by the fuel pressure regulator not keeping a continuous constant pressure that led to the gradual loss of engine power. 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).
- C Aircraft-Aircraft power plant-Engine fuel and control-Fuel pressure indicating-Damaged/degraded - C
- — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Terrain-Rough terrain-Not specified
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2020_WPR20CA132.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (icing). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- NASA NTRS 2026 · Contractor Report (CR)
Icing Physics Studies Using the 3D SIDRM Test Article: 2023 Icing Tests Analysis
In-flight icing is an important safety issue and is a factor that affects aircraft design and performance. Newer regulations are driving a need for improvements in airframe and engine icing simulation…
- arXiv 2025 · arXiv preprint
Multi-Agent Deep Reinforcement Learning for UAV-Assisted 5G Network Slicing: A Comparative Study of MAPPO, MADDPG, and MADQN
The growing demand for robust, scalable wireless networks in the 5G-and-beyond era has led to the deployment of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) as mobile base stations to enhance coverage in dense urb…
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2025 · Journal article (JAAER)
A Mathematical Model on the Temporal Dynamics of Aviation Competitive Pricing
This study investigates the competitive dynamics of airport pricing using U.S. airport data to validate the findings. It employs linear and nonlinear ordinary differential equation models to analyze t…
- NASA NTRS 2025 · Presentation
NASA Icing Update – March 2025
This NASA Icing Update was prepared for presentation to the SAE International AC-9C Inflight Icing Technology Committee. This update includes the following topics: planned Rotational Icing Scaling tes…
- arXiv 2024 · arXiv preprint
An energy-stable phase-field model for droplet icing simulations
A phase-field model for three-phase flows is established by combining the Navier-Stokes (NS) and the energy equations, with the Allen-Cahn (AC) and Cahn-Hilliard (CH) equations and is demonstrated ana…
- NASA NTRS 2024 · Presentation
NASA Icing Update – Oct 2024
This presentation provides a status update on select NASA icing research activities for the SAE AC-9C Icing Technical Committee Meeting on Oct 21, 2024.
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗