Amateur-built IT accident near Douglas, Arizona, March 14, 2007
On March 14, 2007 at about 7:07 pm local time, a amateur-built IT, registered N214GP, was substantially damaged in an accident near Douglas, Arizona (Douglas Municipal airport). It was an air show or air race flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
a loss of directional control during landing due to separation of the rudder cable. A factor was the soft dirt terrain.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- March 14, 2007 · about 7:07 pm local time
- Place
- Douglas, Arizona · Douglas Municipal · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built IT
- Registration
- N214GP · registry record · serial ZIA-0016
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Air show or air race flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
During landing rollout, the pilot's experimental amateur-built airplane swerved off the runway and nosed over in soft dirt. The pilot-builder had been practicing maneuvers for an air show when the right rudder control cable became disconnected. Safety wire, which secured a turnbuckle connecting two ends of the rudder cable, had chafed against a rudder pedal until the wire broke. Thereafter, the turn buckle unthreaded from the cable ends and the cables separated. The pilot's ability to maintain directional control during landing was compromised.
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: airline transport pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane; rotorcraft: glider
- Flight time: 25,000 hours in all; 220 in this make and model; 300 in the last 90 days; 50 in the last 30 days
- Medical certificate: Class 1
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 240 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, May 1, 2006
- Seats: 1
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming IO-360 (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: DGL Douglas AZ at 7:00 pm
- Destination: DGL Douglas AZ
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 21, 5,760 ft by 75 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Visibility: 20 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 82°F (28°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
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.