- Date
- April 18, 1982, 14:22 local (22:22 UTC)
- Place
- Chicago Park, CA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N103LSmith Miniplane DSA-1
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 18, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19820418012609A
- Case key
- 70228
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The aircraft crashed while the pilot was performing aerobatic maneuvers at low altitude. The impact occurred just below the top of a ridge at the edge of a valley as the pilot was completing a loop. He was performing the loop perpendicular to the ridge, and on the back side of the loop, the plane descended out over the valley. No precrash malfunction or failure of the aircraft or engine was evident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N103L
- Reported as
- Smith Miniplane DSA-1 (MINIPLANE)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 10101
- Airframe hours
- 658
- Engine
- Lycoming O-290, 125 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- G.M. Prucha
- Registered owner
- G.M. Prucha
- Departed
- Auburn, CA
- Destination
- Auburn, CA
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 37
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 1,000 total · 25 in this make and model · 7 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 330° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Temperature
- 163 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.