19840315006329A

Accident · Destroyed

FAA accident report · Tcraft BC12D-85 · Edwards Afb, CA · March 15, 1984

Date
March 15, 1984 · 14:00 local
Place
Edwards Afb, CA
Phase of flight
Descent
Operating rules
General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage
Destroyed
Aircraft
N5603M
Reported as
Tcraft BC12D85
Reported engine
Continental C858
Fatal injuries
0
Pilot’s flight hours
678 total38 in this make and model14 in the last 90 days

From the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS), through its Aviation Safety Information Portal, as reported. The NTSB investigates accidents separately, and its record of an accident is the fuller one. The aircraft is matched to the registry by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

What happened

The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.

Wreckage found on a dry lake bed. Pilot died in the air from a gunshot wound to the head. Had been despondent.

As the FAA filed it

WRECKAGE FOUND ON A DRY LAKE BED. PILOT DIED IN THE AIR FROM A GUNSHOT WOUND TO THE HEAD. HAD BEEN DESPONDENT.