LAX93LA135 · Downer Aircraft Industries KR-1
Downer Aircraft Industries KR-1 · Accident: loss of engine power en route
From Prescott Regional Airport - Ernest A. Love Field (PRC) to Prescott Regional Airport - Ernest A. Love Field (PRC)
Event
- NTSB case
- LAX93LA135
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 0
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Downer Aircraft Industries KR-1
- Aircraft type
- Downer KR-1
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N9HD
- Operator
- Robert O. Woodward · private individual
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Prescott Regional Airport - Ernest A. Love Field (PRC)To Prescott Regional Airport - Ernest A. Love Field (PRC)
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- En route · cruise
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Loss of engine power
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Destroyed
Cause areas
- Reason for occurrence undetermined
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
THE EXPERIMENTAL HOMEBUILT HAD ONLY BEEN OPERATED ABOUT 56 HOURS IN THE LAST 12 YEARS, WITH THE LAST FLIGHT PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT LISTED IN THE AIRCRAFT LOG BOOK AS JUNE 16, 1992. THE PILOT MADE NO STATEMENT REGARDING THE ACCIDENT CIRCUMSTANCES. GROUND WITNESSES REPORTED HEARING AND OBSERVING THE AIRCRAFT DESCEND INTO A RESIDENTIAL AREA WITHOUT ANY APPARENT ENGINE POWER. FAA AIRWORTHINESS INSPECTORS EXAMINED THE AIRCRAFT AND REPORTED FINDING MANY DISCREPANCIES IN THE AIRCRAFT SYSTEM DESIGNS AND INSTALLATIONS. THE FUEL SYSTEM CONSISTED OF A RUBBERMAID FIVE GALLON CONTAINER CONNECTED TO THE ENGINE WITH PLASTIC TUBING AND OPERATED BY A HAND WOBBLE PUMP. THE CARBURETOR HEAT SYSTEM CONSISTED OF PVC PLUMBING PIPE HELD TOGETHER AND SECURED TO BOTH THE ENGINE EXHAUST SYSTEM AND THE CARBURETOR WITH RTV SEALANT. THE FAA INSPECTORS REPORTED THAT THE EXAMINATION OF THE REVMASTER VW ENGINE ITSELF REVEALED NO EVIDENCE OF A MECHANICAL MALFUNCTION. REVIEW OF FAA RECORDS REVEALED THAT THE PILOT'S MEDICAL HAD EXPIRED. THE PILOT HAD HELD HIS PRIVATE CERTIFICATE FOR 40 YEARS AND HAD FLOWN 290 HOURS IN THAT TIME. THE AVAILABLE PILOT AND AIRCRAFT RECORDS DISCLOSED THAT THE PILOT HAD NOT FLOWN IN THE LAST SEVEN MONTHS.
Probable cause
THE TOTAL LOSS OF ENGINE POWER FOR UNDETERMINED REASONS. A FACTOR IN THE ACCIDENT WAS THE LACK OF A SUITABLE LANDING AREA AT THE TIME OF THE POWER INTERRUPTION.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record LAX93LA135
- Event ID
- 20001211X11856
- Case number
- LAX93LA135
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: bc066c28a4ae9c3f7e8be45ef6892e74aba0831771e3c02ada29536234a2e10e; retrieved 2026-09-21T14:32:51.271Z.