Amateur-built COUGAR-1 accident near Lantana, Florida, August 17, 1983
On August 17, 1983 at about 2:20 pm local time, a amateur-built COUGAR-1, registered N3538, was destroyed in an accident near Lantana, Florida. It was an instructional flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). 1 person was seriously injured. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The NTSB has not yet published a probable cause for this accident. Investigations usually take one to two years; this page updates when the final report is released.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- August 17, 1983 · about 2:20 pm local time
- Place
- Lantana, Florida · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was seriously injured.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built COUGAR-1
- Registration
- N3538 · registry record · serial WES-1
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Instructional flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
DURING A TOUCH & GO TAKEOFF THE ENGINE QUIT. THE PILOT ENTERED A STEEP TURN TO RETURN TO THE AIRPORT AND CRASHED INTO TREES. POST ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION REVEALED ONLY 1/2 PT OF AUTOMOTIVE FUEL WAS IN THE ACFT.
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: student
- Ratings: single-engine land
- Flight time: 96 hours in all; 4 in this make and model; 14 in the last 90 days; 6 in the last 30 days; 76 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Unknown (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 442 hours
- Last inspection: inspection type not recorded, December 6, 1982; 25 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 1,400 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming O-290-G (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 15, 3,485 ft by 150 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 350° at 3 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: scat at 2,600 ft
- Temperature: 82°F (28°C), dew point 73°F (23°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 1:50 pm from PBI, 7 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.
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.