Amateur-built Avid Flyer accident near Rush City, Minnesota, January 12, 2002
On January 12, 2002 at about 8:30 pm local time, a amateur-built Avid Flyer, registered N4047M, was substantially damaged in an accident near Rush City, Minnesota (Rush City Regional Airport). It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). 1 person was killed. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The unqualified pilot inadvertently stalled the airplane. A factor was the unqualified pilot's lack of total experience.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- January 12, 2002 · about 8:30 pm local time
- Place
- Rush City, Minnesota · Rush City Regional Airport · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was killed.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built Avid Flyer
- Registration
- N4047M · no longer on the register · serial 91
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The amateur built, experimental airplane sustained substantial damage when it departed controlled flight from about 150 feet agl and impacted the terrain. A witness, who was a certified flight instructor, reported the pilot had been practicing taxiing the airplane. He did not think the pilot intended to takeoff. He reported the pilot was taxiing on runway 34 when the wind caught the left wing of the airplane and it lifted off the runway. The airplane turned sharply to the right and headed to the southeast. The airplane had difficulty climbing, but it cleared the trees. Then the airplane turned into the wind and climbed to approximately 125 -150 feet agl. The airplane was making very little forward progress and that it "hovered" for approximately 15 - 20 seconds. The airplane then turned downwind. The witness reported the airplane stalled and "pancaked" into the ground. The airplane wreckage came to rest about 175 feet from the initial point of impact. The witness reported the surface winds were about 12-15 knots out of the west, and the wind above the trees was about 40 knots out of the northwest. The pilot of the airplane did not hold a pilot's certificate or student pilot certificate. The pilot had applied for a FAA Third Class Medical Certificate but was denied. A witness reported the pilot had received about 20-25 hours of dual flight instruction in a Cessna 172. The pilot had not received any flight training in a tailwheel airplane. The experimental airplane's original FAA registered "N" number was N4047M. The pilot had purchased the airplane about one month prior to the accident. At the time of the accident, the airplane was found with the original N number painted over, and the number E 008DH was painted on the side of the airplane.
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
- Flight time: 25 hours in all
- Medical certificate: None
- Seat: left
- Injury: fatal
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 233 hours
- Last inspection: inspection type not recorded
- Maximum gross weight: 1,000 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Rotax 532 (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: ROS Rush City MN at 8:30 pm
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 34, 4,400 ft by 75 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 300° at 11 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 39°F (4°C), dew point 21°F (-6°C)
- Altimeter: 29.79 inHg
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.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.