# NTSB LAX06CA037: Hopkins Rutan VariViggen, N389VV, Aguila, AZ, November 16, 2005 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · Serious injuries · Data collection · Final report - Date: November 16, 2005, 12:10 local (19:10 UTC) - Place: Aguila, AZ - Coordinates: 33.919445, -113.167221 - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=33.9194&lon=-113.1672&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Approach](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/500) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: Serious injuries - Injuries: 1 serious - Status: Completed, report March 28, 2006 - Report: Approved by Office Director - Parties: Federal Aviation Administration - NTSB case key (mKey): 62845 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=LAX06CA037 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/62845/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/LAX06CA037 ## Probable cause the pilot's failure to maintain an adequate airspeed during landing approach, which resulted in an inadvertent stall. A contributing factor was the pilot's lack of experience in the accident airplane. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - Loss of control - in flight, approach - vfr pattern - final approach - airspeed - not maintained, pilot in command (cause) - stall - inadvertent, pilot in command - lack of familiarity with aircraft, pilot in command (contributing factor) - In flight collision with terrain/water, descent - uncontrolled - terrain condition - ground ## Analysis The airplane dragged a wing and collided with terrain during an approach for landing. The accident flight was the first test flight after the pilot finished building the experimental canard-wing airplane. The pilot reported that he inadvertently allowed the airplane's airspeed to decay during the landing approach, which resulted in a canard wing stall. Subsequently, the right main wing dropped and impacted the ground, then the airplane cartwheeled. He reported that he might have been able to prevent the accident had he hired an experienced test pilot to conduct the flight test. He accumulated a total of 83 hours of flight time, and the accident flight was his first time flying this make and model of airplane. ## Factual narrative On November 16, 2005, at 1210 mountain standard time, an amateur-built, experimental Hopkins Rutan VariViggen airplane, N389VV, impacted terrain during landing at the Eagle Roost Airpark in Aguila, Arizona. The private pilot, who was the sole occupant, sustained serious injuries, and the airplane incurred substantial damage. The pilot/owner was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 as an initial test flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a flight plan was not filed for the local area flight, which departed the airpark about 25 minutes prior to the accident. According to the pilot's written account of the event, he was conducting his first test flight in the aircraft after building the canard-wing, pusher-propeller airplane. He considered the winds to be light and variable. He took off, departed the traffic pattern, and conducted the test flight. Upon returning, he set up for landing on runway 35. On the first approach, he believed he was too high and the airplane encountered a "strong gust of wind" from the tail, ballooning the airplane up 40 to 50 feet. He aborted the approach and went around for a second attempt. During the second approach, he extended his downwind leg, and established the airplane on a 9-degree approach angle at 80 miles per hour. He did not make any additional adjustments to the throttle, and "allowed his airspeed to decay to the point that the canard stalled." The right wing dropped and the tip scraped the ground resulting in a cartwheel with the nose of the airplane impacting the ground shortly thereafter. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the cockpit/cabin area, the canard wing, and the left vertical stabilizer and wing. The pilot accumulated a total of 83 hours of flight experience, none of which were in the same make and model as the accident airplane. He did not have a current biennial flight review endorsement nor did he have a current medical certificate. He reported that he might have been able to prevent the accident had he hired an experienced test pilot to conduct the flight tests required by the Federal Aviation Administration. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N389VV](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N389VV-2006-01-24), registration cancelled 2006-01-24, S/N 389, built 2004 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Hopkins Rutan VariViggen - Registry model: [Hopkins Michael P RUTAN/VARIVIGGEN](https://openairdocs.org/model/hopkins-michael-p-rutan-variviggen) (registry code 05615RJ) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Amateur-built UNKNOWN ENG](https://openairdocs.org/engine/amateur-built-unknown-eng) (registry code 99999) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane, amateur-built - Serial number: 389 - Airframe hours: 5.3 - Engines: Lycoming O-360-A3A2 180 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Flight test, Part 91 - Registered owner: Michael P. Hopkins - Airworthiness certificate: Special, Experimental (Special) - Last inspection: Condition, September 1, 2005, 5.3 hours before - Departed: 27AZ, Aguila, AZ - Airport: 27AZ, Eagle Roost Airpark, runway 35, 3,800 × 40 ft, asphalt ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 68; injuries: serious; private; airplane ratings: single-engine land; seat: front; flight hours: 83 total, 0 in this make and model, 0 in the last 90 days, 0 in the last 30 days ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Visibility: 40 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 64 °F ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20051116031489A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20051116031489A), Nov 16, 2005: Amtr VARIVIGGEN, Aguila, AZ, Substantial damage. (-23) Pilot was building this home built aircraft for the past 17 years. This was the first flight for this aircraft and the pilot did not want anyone with… From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.