- Date
- December 11, 1984, 13:45 local (21:45 UTC)
- Place
- Corona, CA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N5303UBarry Zielinski SNS 8 Hiperlt
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19841211069289A
- Case key
- 24438
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
N5303U, owned & operated by the amateur acft builder sustained an inflt structual failure of the lt bottom wing & crashed 6 mi east of Corona, CA. The ultralight type acft was destroyed and the plt fatally injured. Investigation revealed that wing spar failure occurred in negative overload when design stress limits were exceeded. The plt deployed a safety parachute but the aluminum fitting attaching the chute to the acft failed due to overloads. The strength of this fitting was found inadequate for the forces expected.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5303U
- Reported as
- Barry Zielinski SNS 8 Hiperlt (SNS 8 HIPE)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 012
- Airframe hours
- 30
- Engine
- Rotax 277, 28 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Barry J. Zielinski
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Unknown · August 10, 1984 · 30 hours before
- Departed
- Lake Elsninore, CA
- Destination
- L66 · Corona, 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
- 39
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Center
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 3,573 total · 30 in this make and model · 3,373 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 35 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,000 ft broken
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- CNO, 12 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.