CHI08CA237 · Powrachute PC 2000
Powrachute PC 2000 · Accident: collision with terrain/object (non-CFIT) during takeoff
From Goodfield, IL to an unrecorded destination
Event
- NTSB case
- CHI08CA237
- 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
- Unknown
- 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
Powrachute PC 2000
- Aircraft type
- Powrachute PC-2000
- Category
- Powered Parachute
- 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
- N9338W
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Goodfield, ILTo not recorded
- 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
- Takeoff
- Defining eventThe 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
- Collision with terrain/object (non-CFIT)
- Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
- Tree(s)
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Personnel issues › Task performance
Approximate · Coordinates from the NTSB case API, which marks them as estimated or does not say; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
The powered parachute was an existing aircraft without an airworthiness that was certified as an experimental light sport aircraft, The pilot was attempting a takeoff towards the northeast from a grass field in a park, which had trees at its edge. The aircraft was about 20 feet above ground level when the parachute contacted the trees, which was about 644 feet from the start of the takeoff roll. The grass length in the field was approximately 2 1/2 inches. The prevailing winds were calm and the density altitude was approximately 2,800 feet. The aircraft sustained substantial damage, which included bent fuselage tubing. The pilot and passenger received serious injuries. Examination of the aircraft did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. The parachute was a Performance Designs Paraglider, Inc. Sunriser, part number PG0500P01, serial number PG500-001713., manufactured 08/1999. Weight and balance information for the aircraft shows a useful load of 540 lbs. The following weights were recorded: pilot - 195 lbs, passenger - 215 lbs, fuel - 60 lbs, 1 gallon of coolant - 8 lbs, 4 pints of oil - 4 lbs, 2 helmets - 4 lbs. The only takeoff performance information for the aircraft lists a takeoff roll of 25 feet to 300 feet. There is no aircraft performance data, which is not required by certification regulations, available to the pilot.
Probable cause
The insufficient aircraft performance data available to the pilot and the inadequate preflight planning/preparation by the pilot. Contributing to the accident were the trees and density altitude.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record CHI08CA237
- Event ID
- 20080911X01434
- Case number
- CHI08CA237
- Dataset
- full-current
- Source SHA-256
- 5cf380f0061817c0331a6b2d8cc7e0ee3a79bea469a1001dc5c10e56f35f5ab3
Source notes (5)
- 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, coordinates. 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: 49debfbf14bde00e720f0e826f0f33edd1c0f4baf76644e7b814f70164250ded; retrieved 2026-09-15T10:11:39.767Z.
- Corrected after a review of the NTSB narrative and the aircraft's make and model, which establish these values: aircraft category. Powrachute PC 2000 is a powered parachute; the manufacturer builds nothing else. The NTSB MDB codes it AIR (Airplane), which is how the aircraft was registered rather than what it is.