Johnson LANCAIR 360 N417DJ

Summary

On 17 August 2001 at about 18:40 local time, a Johnson LANCAIR 360 registered N417DJ was involved in an accident near Placerville, 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

17 August 2001 at 18:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Placerville, California, United States

Coordinates

38.7291, -120.8007

Aircraft

Johnson LANCAIR 360

Registration

N417DJ

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Sacramento Intl → Placerville

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX01LA281

2 people died.

In-flight loss of control for undetermined reasons.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane dove into a residential property adjacent to the pilot's residence in near-vertical flight. Neighbors believed the pilot intended to fly over his home to alert his wife prior to landing at the nearby airport. The neighbor, in whose front yard the airplane crashed, reported there was a brief whining sound before the crash. When he opened the front door, the wreckage was in his front yard within a few feet of the house. He said there are trees surrounding the location, and the fact that the plane didn't hit any of them told him it had to have come nearly straight down and narrowly missed his house. The wreckage was scattered in a fan-shaped pattern over about 200 feet to the northwest. The engine was embedded into the (very hard) ground about 10 inches in a near-vertical attitude and with the propeller attached. Examination of the wreckage at an impound facility did not reveal any evidence of a preimpact mechanical failure; however, the flight control cables were severed at several locations and it was not possible to determine if the entire aircraft was present due to extensive fracturing of the composite structure. There was no fire.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.