Amateur-built Rutan Defiant accident near Coeur D'Alene, Idaho, May 5, 2006
On May 5, 2006 at about 6:00 pm local time, a amateur-built Rutan Defiant, registered N726RD, was substantially damaged in an accident near Coeur D'Alene, Idaho (Coeur D'Alene Air Terminal airport). It was a personal 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
The pilot's failure to put the nose wheel landing gear down for landing.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- May 5, 2006 · about 6:00 pm local time
- Place
- Coeur D'Alene, Idaho · Coeur D'Alene Air Terminal · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built Rutan Defiant
- Registration
- N726RD · no longer on the register · serial 26
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The pilot said that he had recently purchased the airplane and had very little flight time in it. He said that he was airborne to practice landings. On the first landing, the airplane landed on its rudder, which is mounted beneath the nose adjacent to the nose wheel landing gear. He said that he thought he put the nose wheel landing gear down [in this airplane, only the nose wheel landing gear retracts], but the airplane's maintenance records indicated that this has happened on two previous occasions during the airplane's 18 years of existence. The pilot said that he is in the process of having the landing-gear mechanism inspected.
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, flight engineer
- Ratings: multi-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 6,000 hours in all; 21 in this make and model; 25 in the last 90 days; 8 in the last 30 days; 1,328 as pilot in command
- Last flight review: November 1, 2005
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (without waivers/limitations)
- Seat: left
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 650 hours
- Last inspection: condition inspection, March 1, 2006; 20 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 2,997 lb
- Seats: 4
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Lycoming O-320 (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: COE Coeur D'Alene ID at 5:45 pm
- Destination: COE
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 01, 5,400 ft by 75 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: at 0 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 61°F (16°C), dew point 50°F (10°C)
- Altimeter: 30.02 inHg
- Observation at 5:55 pm from COE
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.