LAX00FA148

The evening before the accident the second pilot told his fiancee he and the pilot were going to perform 'maneuvers, top gun type of stuff.' A witness observed the ex-military jet airplane perform two loops and two roll maneuvers. At the end of the second roll the witness observed the aircraft enter a spin from about 2,000 feet above ground level. This witness and two additional witnesses then observed the airplane descend in a spin to the left accompanied by loud engine noise. Two of the witnesses reported that when the airplane was about 200 feet agl it appeared the spin stopped and the nose of the aircraft was coming up to a level flight attitude when the airplane rolled abruptly to the right and spun to the ground. The wreckage distribution was consistent with a high energy, steep flight path angle, impact with the ground. The pilot was a former helicopter and utility aircraft pilot in the U.S. Army. He received 6 hours of training in the accident aircraft about 2 months before the accident, which did not include any aerobatic training. He stated his intent to return for additional training, to include aerobatics, at a later date after he was more experienced in the aircraft. The pilot was issued an FAA Letter of Authority to operate the experimental-category aircraft about 3 weeks before the accident.

History of flight

On April 9, 2000, at 0715 hours Pacific daylight time, a Fouga 6 CM 170, N495F, was destroyed when the aircraft impacted terrain in an open, level pasture, 3 miles north of San Joaquin, California. No flight plan was filed and visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The personal flight was operated by the owner under 14 CFR Part 91. The commercial certificated pilot and the student certificated second pilot were fatally injured. The aircraft departed from Fresno-Chandler Downtown Airport, Fresno, California, at 0700.

A witness, who observed the aircraft from about 1 mile north of the accident site, said his attention was attracted to the aircraft because the sun angle was low and the airplane was "shiny like a mirror." From his position he was looking up at a 45-degree angle. As he watched, the airplane performed two complete loops, then one horizontal roll, and then another roll while coming toward him from south to north. As the plane was just coming out of the second roll he thought "something happened" because the airplane entered a spin and fell "like a piece of paper" to the ground. This witness said the engine noise was "real loud, roaring like a rocket" as the aircraft spun to the ground. He thought the aircraft was going almost straight down during the spin.

Another witness was standing in the front yard of his home about 1/4-mile southeast of the accident site. The sun had risen but was low in the east. The sky was clear and the visibility was good. As he looked to the northwest his attention was attracted to the aircraft because it "glistened" high in the sky. He estimated that the aircraft was about 2,000 feet agl going straight down and rolling to the left. The engine noise was "screaming," and he estimated the aircraft continued that way for 10 seconds. Then the roll stopped and the nose of the plane started to level. The witness thought the pilot would "swoop on out." The airplane continued to level for about 5 seconds; however, during this time the engine noise was quiet. The aircraft then rolled abruptly to the right, opposite the previous direction of roll, the nose dropped, and the airplane completed two rolls to the right before impacting the ground. During the two rolls, the flight path angle was about 45 degrees down and the aircraft was traveling in a northerly direction. The engine noise was quiet.

A third witness, who observed the accident from about 1/2 mile east of the accident site, said his attention was attracted to the airplane by the loud engine roar that he compared to the reverse thrust roar jet airplanes make after landing. When he first saw it, the airplane was about 2,000 feet and spiraled down to about 200 feet, where he thought the pilot was "pulling out," and then the airplane spun again to the ground. When he first saw the airplane he thought it was diving nose first, straight down, and then changed to a nose low, upright attitude. At 200 feet the turning stopped, the nose came up, then the nose dropped, and the aircraft spun to the ground.

The second pilot's fiancee said that he was learning to fly and he was very excited about it. She was excited for him. She said that he had met the pilot at the Chandler airport about 1 week before the accident. He again talked with the pilot the evening before the accident (Saturday evening, April 8, 2000), and arranged to go for a flight in the Fouga the following morning. She said that he told her that night that they were going out to perform "maneuvers, top gun type of stuff." He was to pay the cost of gas and they went that evening and he drew out $800 cash because "that's how much it's going to be." He had the $800 in cash with him when he left her the morning of the accident.

Personnel information

The pilot had been a U.S. Army Warrant Officer who flew helicopter and fixed-wing utility aircraft. He was discharged in October 1999. No pilot logbook was located following the accident, and the hours shown in the Pilot Flight Time Matrix are from U.S. Army records. The requirements for issuance of the pilot's commercial pilot certificate and his biennial flight review were met on the basis of military competency.

The pilot was trained in the Fouga on February 25 and 26, 2000, in about 6 hours of flying. The instructor pilot said the pilot was well qualified, flew the plane well, and seemed to be safety conscious. The instructor said that the pilot had owned the aircraft for about a year and followed it through rebuilding and repainting. He had previously taxied the aircraft and knew the systems. The instructor issued a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on March 8, 2000, recommending the pilot be issued a Letter of Authority subject to no aerobatics and no formation flying being approved because they had not trained in either. At the pilot's suggestion, they did not train in aerobatics. The pilot told the instructor that he would fly the plane and get used to it, and then they would get together again in April (2000) and train in aerobatics.

The instructor pilot said the checkout was "basic day, VFR." They performed stalls, steep turns, and recovery from unusual attitudes (visually), including vertical diving flight. They performed a lot of takeoff and landing (pattern) work because the pilot was aware of the relatively short runway at Chandler airport where he intended to base the aircraft. The pattern work included no flap landings and several simulated flame out landings. They also performed single engine approaches, single engine go-arounds, and engine failures on takeoff. They performed one takeoff and two landings at Chandler airport while delivering the aircraft there.

A Letter of Authority to operate the Fouga 6 CM 170 was issued to the pilot by the FAA's Fresno Flight Standards District Office on March 17, 2000. The Letter prohibited the pilot from flying in formation flight or performing aerobatics in airshows.

Aircraft information

The Fouga 6 CM 170, called the "Magister," is a French-built military training aircraft with seating for two pilots in tandem cockpits. The twin jet-engine aircraft has been surplused by the French government, and some of the airplanes have been imported into the United States where they are privately owned and operated in the "Experimental" airworthiness category.

Experimental category Operating Limitations were issued to the pilot/owner by the FAA's Riverside (California) Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) pertaining to operation of the aircraft while based at the Chino Airport in Southern California (attached). The limitations required that, if the aircraft's base of operation was changed, the new area FSDO be notified and new Operating Limitations be issued. According to inspectors from the Fresno FSDO, the pilot had contacted them regarding obtaining revised Operating Limitations for operation of the aircraft while based at Fresno-Chandler, however, the revised limitations had not been issued.

The instructor pilot who trained the pilot in the airplane said it was mechanically sound and "one of the best running Fouga's I've flown." There were no parachutes in the airplane and the type aircraft never had ejection seats.

The instructor said the Fouga is a very benign handling aircraft. Because the aircraft is centerline thrust, engine failures are easy to handle. The aircraft stalls gently, with natural (aerodynamic) buffet, and has no inherent tendency to spin. It does not have any stall warning system. When it is intentionally spun, it recovers "more easily than a Cessna 150." The spin recovery procedure is to idle the engines, stop the turn with opposite rudder, and release the back pressure. The spin stops and the aircraft recovers in 1/4 turn. However, he added, the aircraft spins in a fairly nose low attitude (about 45 degrees), rotates about 3 or 4 seconds per revolution and l