- Date
- July 25, 1988, 17:25 local (Jul 26, 1988, 00:25 UTC)
- Place
- Porterville, CA
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N9192VStephenson U-2
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 29, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19880725028089A
- Case key
- 25748
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
During a pleasure flight, while soaring with the engine at idle, the flying wing motor glider inadvertently entered a stall. The pilot did not recover from the stall and the airplane began to spin. The pilot was able to regain control at approximately 50 feet AGL. He then regained about 200 feet of altitude; however, when power was applied, the engine did not respond. The pilot made a forced landing in a grape vineyard. The pilot stated that he had engine problems previous to this flight but thought he had resolved them.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9192V
- Reported as
- Stephenson U-2
- Category
- Ultralight, amateur-built
- Serial number
- U-627
- Airframe hours
- 8
- Engine
- Zenoah G25B-1, 20 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Jeffrey Lynn Stephenson
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Unknown · May 17, 1988 · 8 hours before
- Departed
- PTV · Porterville, 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
- 34
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 237 total · 20 in this make and model · 167 as pilot in command · 20 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 310° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 100 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.