- Date
- July 27, 1986, 12:07 local (19:07 UTC)
- Place
- Yucca Valley, CA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N315WPlaymate SA-11A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 11, 1988
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19860727034949A
- Case key
- 24931
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 PIC planned a local flight in his homebuilt 'playmate' experimental acft. A witness reported observing the acft 1/8 mi n of the uncontrolled arpt in a spin. The plt recovered fm the spin at 200 ft AGL, & then entered a near vertical descent until colliding with terrain. Therapeutic levels of codeine and morphine were detected during the autopsy. Usage of these compounds is disqualifing for flying aircraft.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N315W
- Reported as
- Playmate SA-11A
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 105
- Engine
- Lycoming O-290, 125 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Nick A. D'Andrea
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Unknown · May 25, 1986
- Departed
- L22 · Yucca Valley, CA
- Airport
- L22 · Yucca Valley, runway 24, 3,686 × 90 ft
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
- 32
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Invalid Medical for flight
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 500 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 95 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.