| Crash location | 29.841944°N, 84.701111°W |
| Nearest city | Carrabelle, FL
29.853265°N, 84.664348°W 2.3 miles away |
| Tail number | N543SX |
|---|---|
| Accident date | 05 Feb 2018 |
| Aircraft type | Gregory Newman Sonex Trainer |
| Additional details: | None |
On February 5, 2018, at 1125 eastern standard time, an experimental, amateur-built Sonex Trainer airplane, N543SX, sustained substantial damage when it collided with terrain after a loss of engine power during the initial climb after takeoff from the Carrabelle-Thompson Airport (X13), Carrabelle, Florida. The private pilot, who was also the owner/builder of the airplane was fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed near the airport at the time of the accident and no flight plan was filed for the flight that was being conducted as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The flight was originating at the time of the accident with intentions to stay in the local area.
A witness stated the pilot had been having some mechanical issues with the engine and the purpose of the flight was to test the engine. On the morning of the accident, the witness heard the pilot start the airplane's engine and taxi to runway 5. Everything sounded normal. The airplane then departed. When it was about halfway down the 4,000-foot-long runway, he heard the engine lose power. There was no sputter or sound of a rough running engine, the rpm just decelerated. The witness looked up and saw the airplane about 100 ft above the runway. The pilot then made an "aggressive bank" to the left and the airplane stalled and descended straight down toward the ground. The witness did not see the impact.
The airplane came to rest upright in a nose down attitude in heavily wooded and swampy terrain about 250-yards north of the airport. There was no postimpact fire.
The pilot held a private pilot certificate with a rating for airplane single-engine land. His last Federal Aviation Administration third-class medical was issued on May 3, 2016. At that time, he reported 571 total flight hours.
Weather at Apalachicola Regional Airport-Cleve Randolph Field, Apalachicola, Florida, located about 18 miles west of the accident site, at 1053, was reported as wind from 050° at 9 knots, clear skies, temperature 15° C, dew point 8° C, and an altimeter setting of 30.23 inches of mercury.