Pilot Debrief

Just Aircraft Highlander near Great Falls, MT — 2026-04-08

Investigation ongoingWPR26LA152
Sign in to save
Date
2026-04-08
Location
Great Falls, MT, USA
Aircraft
Just Aircraft Highlander
Registration
N563JA
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0

Probable cause

NTSB has not published a probable cause for this accident yet. Preliminary reports describe what happened; the cause is determined later, often 12–24 months after the event.

NTSB narrative

On April 8, 2026, about 1106 mountain daylight time, an experimental amateur built Just Aircraft Highlander, N563JA, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Great Falls, Montana. The pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The pilot reported that after he departed Great Falls International Airport (GTF), Great Falls, Montana, he intended to land on a private grass surface airstrip about 5.5 nautical miles to the southwest. While on the final approach to the grass airstrip, he applied right rudder pedal to enter a left wing low slip to perform a steep approach along with reducing the throttle to idle to minimize the airspeed. The pilot stated that when he decreased the throttle to idle, the engine lost total power. He aligned the nose of the airplane with the runway heading at the threshold, but the airplane’s airspeed was too fast. The airplane touched down in the last 1/3rd of the airstrip with the control stick full aft and he applied the brakes. Ground scars revealed that the nose of the airplane contacted the turf surface and skidded about six ft before the airplane nosed over near the departure end of the airstrip, which extended to the edge of the Missouri river. A review of the airplane’s maintenance logs indicated that a condition inspection was completed on December 8, 2025, and a new SkyTrax propeller speed reduction unit and friction clutch upgrade was installed on January 18, 2026. The wreckage has been recovered to a secure facility for further examination.

Preliminary NTSB coding

  • Nose over/nose down · Landing-landing roll
  • Loss of engine power (total) · Approach-VFR pattern final
View NTSB preliminary report

Related mishaps