Amateur-built CHRISTEN EAGLE II accident near Lebanon, New Hampshire, July 24, 1993
On July 24, 1993 at about 5:00 pm local time, a amateur-built CHRISTEN EAGLE II, registered N90BC, was destroyed in an accident near Lebanon, New Hampshire. It was a flight of an unrecorded kind 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
INADEQUATE CREW/GROUP COORDINATION.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- July 24, 1993 · about 5:00 pm local time
- Place
- Lebanon, New Hampshire
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was killed.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built CHRISTEN EAGLE II CHRISTEN E
- Registration
- N90BC · registry record · serial 05658EE
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
OPENING ACT WAS FOR 3 JUMPERS TO EXIT FROM JUMP-PLANE (J/P) AT 3500' AGL; 2 JUMPERS WERE TO JOIN AT 2000' TO DISPLAY FLAG, WHILE 3RD JUMPER WAS TO CIRCLE ABOVE. N90BC & N31485 WERE TO CIRCLE JUMPERS IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS. N90BC WAS TO CIRCLE CLOCKWISE, OUTSIDE TURN RADIUS OF N31485, WHICH WOULD CIRCLE COUNTERCLOCKWISE. WHEN 2 OF 3 JUMPERS EXITED FROM J/A, PILOT OF N31485 BANKED LEFT INTO SPIRAL, APPARENTLY UNAWARE OF 3RD JUMPER. 3RD JUMPER DELAYED UNTIL N31485 WAS CLEAR, THEN JUMPED AS J/A CONTINUED ON SAME HEADING. PHOTO SHOWED N90BC WAS TO THE RIGHT & AT AN UNDETERMINED DISTANCE BEHIND N31485 AS 1ST 2 JUMPERS EXITED. AFTER 3RD JUMPER EXITED, HE & N90BC COLLIDED. N90BC WAS DAMAGED, WENT OUT OF CONTROL & CRASHED. AFTER ACCIDENT, SOME PARTICIPANTS OF PRESHOW BRIEFING DID NOT RECALL A 3RD JUMPER BEING MENTIONED, ALTHOUGH OTHERS REMEMBERED. 3RD JUMPER WAS NOT PRESENT FOR PRESHOW BRIEFING, BUT AC 91-45C ALLOWED FOR ONLY 1 MEMBER FROM EACH TEAM TO ATTEND PRESHOW BRIEFING, THEN BRIEF OTHER TEAM MEMBERS.
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; instructor: airplane single-engine; instructor: instrument airplane; instrument: airplane; rotorcraft: helicopter
- Flight time: 2,392 hours in all; 663 in this make and model; 56 in the last 90 days; 28 in the last 30 days; 2,254 as pilot in command; 678 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: rear
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 389 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, March 18, 1992
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming AEIO-360-A1D (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: LEB at 4:45 pm
- Destination: LEB
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 330° at 6 knots
- Visibility: 25 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 6,000 ft; not recorded at 6,000 ft
- Temperature: 79°F (26°C), dew point 52°F (11°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 5:02 pm from LEB, 1 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
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 documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, the folder of records gathered during the investigation, shown as the NTSB released them (the NTSB redacts some personal details first) and listed under the NTSB's own titles. This site's own text 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 BFO93FA135.