- Date
- March 27, 1987, 16:30 local (Mar 28, 1987, 00:30 UTC)
- Place
- Riverside, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N26CKThorp T-18
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 7, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19870327007479A
- Case key
- 25548
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
While on a flt to practice aerobatics, the plt was flying at 3500' when he felt a cold liquid on his rgt leg & noted the odor of fuel in the cockpit. Moments later, flames erupted in the cockpit. The plt bailed out & the airplane crashed on the southeast shore of lake mathews. A postcrash exam revealed major heat damage in the area near the primer lines. The plt rprtd that the primer assembly had leaked on a previous occasion.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N26CK
- Reported as
- Thorp T-18
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 003
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1D, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- In-Flight
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Scott K. Harris
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 1, 1986
- Departed
- Perris, CA
- Airport
- RAL · Riverside
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
- 29
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,012 total · 23 in this make and model · 832 as pilot in command · 31 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 12 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Observed at
- RAL, 8 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.