Gordon Price ULTIMATE 10-300S N325GP

Summary

On 12 April 1997 at about 02:35 local time, a Gordon Price ULTIMATE 10-300S registered N325GP was involved in an accident near Yuma, Arizona, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

12 April 1997 at 02:35

Classification

Accident

Location

Yuma, Arizona, United States

Nearest airport

Yuma McAs/Yuma Intl (YUM)

Coordinates

32.7208, -114.5099

Aircraft

Gordon Price ULTIMATE 10-300S

Registration

N325GP

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Dusk

NTSB number

LAX97LA155

Nobody was injured.

the pilot's failure to maintain adequate vertical clearance from the runway, while flying inverted. Factors relating to the accident were: the light conditions at dusk, and the pilot's lack of visual ques due to the light conditions.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

An air show routine was being performed at sunset, which involved a giant ring of flames at center stage of the show. Once established on the last pass through the ring of fire, the pilot planned to fly inverted and cut a ribbon with the propeller blades. She reported that while flying inverted during the third pass, the airplane impacted the ground. The pilot stated that she remembered the turn-around, rolling inverted, and establishing her sight picture for the run-in. However, the next few seconds were a total blank in her memory, with her visual picture resuming with the sparks created by the inverted slide. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical difficulties with the airplane. An FAA inspector reported that the 'Ring of Fire' routine required the pilot to fly directly into the setting sun, then turn around for the inverted pass. The inspector established on-scene that no mechanical or engine abnormalities had occurred.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.