- Date
- June 4, 1987, 06:44 local (13:44 UTC)
- Place
- California City, CA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N444AVDouglas A-4A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 26, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19870604018339A
- Case key
- 25406
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 airplane, a civilian Douglas A4A, was engaged in filming a commercial which required the plt to fly over a ferrari vehicle. The pilot had completed a low filming pass over the vehicle and was circling the area while the film crew was preparing for another low pass over the vehicle. Ground witnesses reported that the airplane then entered a shallow descent and rolled into inverted flight. The left wing struck the ground, while inverted, and the airplane began to cartwheel. The main fuselage area was found about 2000 feet from the initial wing impact point. The post accident wreckage examination dsclsd no evidence of any preimpact malfunctions or failures. No medical evidence was found to indicate any condition to impair the plt. The plt had attempted to eject from the acft. The seat had fired and the seat was found 52 ft north of the fuselage area. The plts parachute had deployed and was found adjacent to the cockpit area.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N444AV
- Reported as
- Douglas A-4A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 14219
- Airframe hours
- 1,222
- Engine
- Wright J-65-16WA, 7,700 lbs thrust, turbo jet
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Other work use · Part 91
- Operator
- Advanced Aeronautical Entprise, doing business as Neeley Assocates
- Registered owner
- Advanced Aeronautical
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · December 2, 1986 · 14 hours before
- Departed
- MHV · Mojave, CA
- Airport
- L71 · California City
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
- 40
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Expired
- Seat
- Center
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 5,000 total · 756 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 45 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- EDW, 16 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.