- Date
- January 22, 1989, 09:11 local (17:11 UTC)
- Place
- Cajalco, CA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N87AJMason AJM-1
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 18, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890122001729A
- Case key
- 26120
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's intentional descent into the terrain. Contributing factors to the accident were the pilot's phychological problems and his lack of experience in this aircraft.
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 pilot radioed he had control difficulties with his aircraft and declined assistance to land at nearby airports. Witnesses described the aircraft as spinning into the ground from a very high altitude. A video tape of the flight (from the cockpit) indicated no mechanical difficulties with the aircraft during the time the pilot reported having difficulties. The weather conditions were clear. The pilot deliberately turned off the video camera prior to the accident. The pilot had just purchased this aircraft. This was his first flight and had refused the offer of instruction from the aircraft owner/builder. The coroner has ruled the accident as a suicide. The pilot had just undergone major surgery and was taking the prescribed drug coumadin. According to the FAA, the use of this drug would have precluded the use of his aeromedical certificate.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N87AJ
- Reported as
- Mason AJM-1
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1699
- Airframe hours
- 32
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Richard E. Mckim
- Registered owner
- Arthur J. Mason
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 28, 1988 · 32 hours before
- Departed
- L39 · Ramona, CA
- Destination
- TVL · Lake Tahoe, 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
- 39
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 1,010 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 23 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 48 °F, dew point 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- RIV, 27 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.