- Date
- September 20, 1987, 14:06 local (21:06 UTC)
- Place
- Sonoma, CA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N8598VBellanca 7ECA
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 16, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19870920053489A
- Case key
- 25428
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 70-hour student plt had recently passed the pvt plt written exam & had completed most of the flt trng for certification. He was looking forward to becoming a licensed plt. While on a personal flt, the plt flew over his brother's residence & was observed to rock the acft's wings back & forth. The plt then flew over his own house. While circling at between 300 & 500 ft. AGL, the plt's mother saw the acft & waved. She reported that her son 'wiggled' the acft's wings. Then, as the mother watched, the acft's bank steepened. Numerous witnesses reported the acft's bank angle increased to 90 (or more) degrees, & the acft rapidly descended until it crashed into a neighbor's backyard while in a 60 deg. Pitch down attitude. There was no evidence of any preimpact failure or malfunction of the acft or its eng.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8598V
- Reported as
- Bellanca 7ECA
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1077-75
- Airframe hours
- 1,761
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-C2C, 115 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Aero Schellville
- Registered owner
- Christopher D. Prevost
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Standard, Aerobatic
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · August 15, 1987 · 61 hours before
- Departed
- 0Q3 · Sonoma, 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
- 23
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 70 total · 69 in this make and model · 27 as pilot in command · 16 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.