Loss of Control in Flight · NTSB WPR23FA044
GALLAGHER XLT-RG — Banning, CA
| Date | November 23, 2022 |
| Location | Banning, CA |
| Aircraft | GALLAGHER XLT-RG (amateur-built) |
| Purpose of flight | Personal |
| Conditions | Night · Visual Meteorological Cond |
| Phase / occurrence | Uncontrolled descent Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT) |
| Pilot age | 55 |
| Pilot total time | 14,300 hrs · High time |
| Time in type | 0 hrs |
| Fatalities | 1 |
Probable cause
NTSB findings
- Aircraft-Aircraft power plant-Turbocharging (recip only)-Turbocharger-Unknown/Not determined
What happened
Multiple witnesses observed fire and a trail of smoke coming from the rear of the experimental, amateur-built airplane as it flew overhead; the airplane was equipped with a rear-mounted engine. The airplane appeared to be in a level flight attitude and the fire progressively worsened as it continued toward a nearby airport. The airplane subsequently impacted the ground about 11/2 miles northeast of the airport, where most of the airplane was consumed by a postcrash fire.
Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the inflight fire likely started near the turbocharger; however, the exact origin could not be determined due to damage from the inflight and postcrash fires. There were no other mechanical malfunctions or failures identified during the postaccident examination that would have precluded normal operation.