Amateur-built Lancair 360 accident near Charleston, South Carolina, April 24, 2006
On April 24, 2006 at about 3:45 pm local time, a amateur-built Lancair 360, registered N9GX, was substantially damaged in an accident near Charleston, South Carolina (East Cooper airport). It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). 1 person was killed. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's failure to maintain sufficient airspeed during a climb to preclude a stall, which resulted in a loss of control and an in-flight collision with terrain. A factor associated with the accident was an inadvertent stall.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- April 24, 2006 · about 3:45 pm local time
- Place
- Charleston, South Carolina · East Cooper · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was killed.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built Lancair 360
- Registration
- N9GX · registry record · serial 804-320-646FB
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
In a statement provided to an FAA inspector, a witness stated that he saw the airplane make two low passes over runway 17. He also stated that the engine sounded like it was running smoothly, but quietly. On a third pass, the pilot raised the landing gear and started to climb. He began a normal left turn to crosswind. The witness stated that he might have looked away for a second, and "when I looked back, the wings had rotated to what appeared to be almost a 90-degree bank." The witness also said that, " the nose of the aircraft dropped to almost vertical, the aircraft dove into the ground, but I did not observe any fire or smoke." FAA inspectors arrived at the scene and reported that the airplane was located in a marsh area with the nose embedded in the ground, facing the runway. Examination by the FAA inspectors revealed a residual amount of fuel in fuel lines, fuel transducer, and fuel flow divider. Examination of the airplane's structure, flight controls, and engine revealed no evidence of precrash anomalies.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane; instrument: helicopter; rotorcraft: helicopter
- Flight time: 3,888 hours in all
- Last flight review: October 1, 2005
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (without waivers/limitations)
- Seat: left
- Injury: fatal
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 53 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, March 1, 2006; 1.1 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 1,835 lb
- Seats: 4
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Lycoming IO-360-B1F (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: LRO Charleston SC at 3:30 pm
- Destination: LRO Charleston SC
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 17, 3,700 ft by 75 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 260° at 8 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: a few clouds at 6,500 ft
- Temperature: 84°F (29°C), dew point 55°F (13°C)
- Altimeter: 29.97 inHg
- Observation at 2:56 pm from CHS
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
Other NTSB records under N9GX the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The docket at the NTSB holds the report as a PDF and the investigation's photographs and documents. This site never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number ATL06LA070.