Amateur-built Thorp T-18 N2KP accident near Hendersonville, North Carolina

Preliminary information

On May 15, 2026, about 1853 eastern daylight time, an experimental amateur-built Thorp T-18, N2KP, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Hendersonville, North Carolina. The commercial pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14?Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.

The pilot stated that after landing at Hendersonville Airport (0A7), Henderson, North Carolina, he secured the airplane and went inside the fixed base operator, then returned to the airplane to continue his trip to a coastal city within North Carolina. While there, he did not obtain any fuel and stated that he had an estimated 12 to 14 gallons of fuel onboard. Prior to departure he described his preflight inspection as “lackadaisical,” but he did check the pitch trim and ailerons, and thought that the pitch trim was in the correct location for takeoff. He taxied to the runway, applied throttle, and as the airplane accelerated it, “sprung into the air” then pitched up climbing to between 50 and 100 ft. A pilot-rated witness at 0A7 reported seeing the nose of the airplane in a very high attitude, nearly vertical. The pilot further stated that he pushed forward on the control stick and did not touch the pitch trim system, but the nose would, “not come down.” The airplane then descended and impacted trees on the east side of the runway.

Postaccident examination of the airplane’s pitch trim system revealed the wheel was rotated clockwise in a nose-down direction. The elevator trim jack assembly was inspected and the number of threads out the aft portion was documented in photographs. Using an exemplar airplane and the as-found position of the elevator trim jack assembly position, the anti-servo tab was full deflected in the airplane nose-down direction.

Text from the NTSB; a preliminary report can change and names no cause. Open the NTSB docket for ERA26LA211 for the full record.