Undetermined · NTSB CEN18FA140
BORDIUK CHALLENGER II — Friona, TX
| Date | April 16, 2018 |
| Location | Friona, TX |
| Aircraft | BORDIUK CHALLENGER II (amateur-built) |
| Purpose of flight | Instructional |
| Conditions | Dusk · Visual Meteorological Cond |
| Phase / occurrence | Enroute Unknown or undetermined |
| Pilot age | 24 |
| Pilot total time | 632 hrs · Building experience |
| Time in type | 0 hrs |
| Fatalities | 2 |
Probable cause
NTSB findings
- Not determined-Not determined-(general)-(general)-Unknown/Not determined - C
What happened
The flight instructor and the student pilot departed at sunset on a local flight in the airplane from a private airstrip adjacent to the flight instructor's home. About 25 minutes after takeoff, the flight instructor's sister was about 3 miles from the airstrip and observed the airplane fly over her position about 3 miles from the airstrip. She reported that the airplane was low, but nothing seemed unusual and both pilots waved to her. When the airplane did not return to the airstrip, the flight instructor's wife reported it overdue. The wreckage was located early the following morning. There were no known witnesses to the accident.
Postaccident airframe and engine examinations did not reveal any anomalies consistent with a preimpact failure or malfunction. In the absence of any witnesses, or an identified preimpact failure or malfunction with respect to the airplane, the investigation was unable to determine the cause of the impact with the terrain.
The student pilot's toxicology testing was positive for dextrorphan and doxylamine in liver tissue but not in cavity blood; however, the levels present were far too low to have had any significant effects.