Lancair 235 N25NL

Summary

On 24 October 2020 at about 17:28 local time, a Lancair 235 registered N25NL was involved in an accident near Cordes Lakes, Arizona, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

24 October 2020 at 17:28

Classification

Accident

Location

Cordes Lakes, Arizona, United States

Coordinates

34.2982, -112.0161

Aircraft

Lancair 235

Registration

N25NL

Category

Airplane

Year built

1998

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Phoenix → Page

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR21FA025

2 people died.

The pilot’s exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack during an aerobatic maneuver, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and spin and a loss of control. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s lack of aerobatic experience in the accident airplane make and model.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was conducting a visual flight rules cross-country flight. Data downloaded from the airplane’s avionics showed that, during cruise flight about 17 minutes after takeoff, the pilot executed a left 360° roll. During the maneuver, the airplane descended more than 1,000 ft, and its vertical acceleration increased from -0.7 to 2.9 G. A few seconds after the completion of the roll maneuver, the engine rpm and oil pressure decreased to zero, and the airplane’s attitude, accelerations, and airspeed parameters became unreliable. A friend of the pilot reported that the pilot had recently learned how to perform rolls in a different make and model of airplane, but no further details were available. Wreckage and impact signatures were consistent with the airplane impacting terrain in an inverted spin. Postaccident examination of the airplane confirmed continuity to all flight control surfaces, and no engine or airframe anomalies were found that would have precluded normal operation. It is likely that the pilot intentionally attempted an aerobatic maneuver, lost airplane control, and exceeded the airplane’s critical angle of attack, which resulted in a stall, a subsequent spin, and an impact with terrain. The ethanol identified in the pilot’s cavity blood was most likely the result of postmortem production. Therefore, effects from ethanol did not play a role in this accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.