North American SNJ-5C N766CA

Summary

On 14 August 1998 at about 01:30 local time, a North American SNJ-5C registered N766CA was involved in an accident near Winlock, Washington, 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

14 August 1998 at 01:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Winlock, Washington, United States

Coordinates

46.4799, -122.8698

Aircraft

North American SNJ-5C

Registration

N766CA

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Vancouver → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA98FA164

2 people died.

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate altitude during attempted low-level aerobatics.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Witnesses at a residence on the airstrip observed the airplane make a low pass to the east along the east-west runway of the airstrip, followed by an 8-point roll, a 90-270 degree course reversal, and another low pass to the west with a pull-up into what was described as either a loop or cuban-eight maneuver. Just after attaining the top of this last maneuver, the airplane was rolled out with a heading change toward the south, where it was observed to be near level attitude before the left wing dropped and it disappeared from view due to obscuration by trees. Impact was heard shortly after the airplane disappeared from view. The airplane was located in a wooded area and was consumed by fire. One witness familiar with both the pilot and the airplane had noted a slight hesitation at the top of the loop or cuban-eight maneuver. He observed that the winds aloft were quite strong from the north, which may have caused the airplane to drift south of the east-west runway, so that terrain clearance (due to high trees bordering the south side of the runway) would have been reduced when the pilot was at the top of the maneuver. He noted that he heard no indications of a loss of engine power, although some other witnesses at the same location on the airstrip believed there had been a momentary power interruption before the crash. No evidence of preimpact mechanical deficiency or of pre-impact fire was observed during the on-scene investigation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.