Extra Flugzeugbau EA-300 N69BW

Summary

On 26 October 1997 at about 00:15 local time, a Extra Flugzeugbau EA-300 registered N69BW was involved in an accident near Castaic, California, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

26 October 1997 at 00:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Castaic, California, United States

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Extra Flugzeugbau EA-300

Registration

N69BW

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Van Nuys → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX98FA022

2 people died.

The pilot's failure to maintain control of the aircraft during an aerobatic maneuver.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot held a low altitude aerobatic waiver issued by the FAA and was demonstrating the aircraft to the second pilot. The accident site is in a designated aerobatic practice area, which has a floor of 1,500 feet agl. Radar data showed returns from a VFR aircraft maneuvering between 1,900 and 3,400 feet agl near the location and time of the accident. The minimum altitude of radar coverage in the area is approximately 2,100 feet agl. Two witnesses thought they were observing a radio controlled model aircraft from their car. The aerobatic aircraft performed a loop and then pulled up into vertical flight. The aircraft stopped pointing straight up, the nose dropped, and then the aircraft entered a nose down, right-hand spiral that continued for 8 to 20 seconds until the aircraft disappeared from sight behind an orchard. One witness reported that the aircraft was 'not up where planes normally fly, it was lower.' The aircraft impacted a dirt road in near vertical, nose down attitude with no evidence of rotation. An aerobatic maneuver sequence card was found in the wreckage; the first three maneuvers were a loop, followed by a hammerhead turn, and then an Immelman. Extensive reconstruction of the aircraft showed no evidence of preimpact failure of the aircraft or flight control system.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.