Amateur-built Rans S-18 Stinger accident near Llano, California, May 15, 2006

The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record

The airplane collided with terrain 1,000 feet short of the runway. The pilot planned to perform touch-and-go takeoffs and landings at the airport in the morning and was reported missing later that afternoon. No Federal Aviation Administration pilot or medical certificates were located for the pilot. According to a family member, the pilot had not flown over the past few years due to medical issues and purchased the airplane a month prior to the accident. He had flown the airplane five times prior to the accident. Using an estimated load sheet supplied by the airplane kit supplier, the takeoff weight of the airplane was calculated to be 957 pounds; the maximum gross weight of the airplane was 1,100 pounds. The airplane was 0.75-inch within the forward center of gravity limit. The density altitude was calculated to be 5,233 feet mean sea level. The initial impact point and the final resting point of the wreckage was separated by only 10 feet. Both wings exhibited symetrical damage and the composite propeller was extensively fragmented into slivers. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector examined the wreckage following the accident and no mechanical anomalies were noted that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane prior to impact.

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.