THE DTSB
Pending. Detectives with the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office have determined that the pilot of a Cirrus SR22T aircraft intentionally brought the plane down in a remote area west of Bend at 6:46 p.m. on Tuesday, August 4.
Key facts
- DateAugust 4, 2026
- Local time6:45 PM
- LightDay
- WeatherVMC
- Phase of flightManeuvering
- People on board1
- Fatalities1
Accident Location
- City, State
- Sunriver, Oregon
- Latitude
- 44.089727
- Longitude
- -121.448243
Aircraft Info
- N Number
- N625LK
- Make
- Cirrus
- Model
- SR22T
- Category / Class
- Aircraft Single Engine Land
- Amateur Built
- No
Pilot Info
- Pilot in command
- Charlton, Steven Nicholas
- Gender
- Male
- Age
- 48
- Certification
- Commercial Pilot
- IFR rating
- Yes
- Medical
- 2nd Class Medical
- Flight school
- No
- Instructional flight
- No
Analysis
- Weather
- VMC
- Time of day
- Day
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Pilot error
- Yes
- Pilot incapacitation
- No
- People on board
- 1
- PIC fatality
- 1
- Total fatalities
- 1
- NTSB travel
- Unknown
- AQP category
- 10b) SUICIDE →
Probable Cause
NTSB
None yet (final report not yet published).
Recommendation
THE DTSB
Pending.
NTSB
None issued. NTSB recommendations are rare and usually tied to high-profile accidents.
See the NTSB Recommendation Tracker →