- Date
- July 25, 1991, 10:40 local (17:40 UTC)
- Place
- Earp, CA
- Injuries
- 4 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N3813UBeech F33A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 3, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910725029869A
- Case key
- 27016
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 failure to maintain adequate airspeed, while maneuvering during a low pass, which resulted in a stall. A factor related to the accident was: lack of altitude to recover from the stall.
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 the cross-country flight home, a friend of the pilot asked one of the pilot's three passengers to take a photograph of his residence. The pilot agreed to fly by the friend's residence while his passenger photographed it. While flying, the pilot initially stayed between 150 and 500 feet above the level of the terrain. Witnesses reported that the airplane was traveling slowly. Seconds after the airplane passed by the specified residence, the airplane entered a steep left turn with a reported angle of bank between 75 and 90 degrees. Thereafter, the airplane's nose pitched downward, the airplane entered an uncontrolled descent, and it crashed into the marsh-like area adjacent to the nearby resort community.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3813U
- Reported as
- Beech F33A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- CE-938
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-BB, 285 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Ricky L. Fosnight
- Registered owner
- Ricky L. Fosnight
- Last inspection
- Unknown · January 2, 2000
- Departed
- P20 · Parker, AZ
- Destination
- FULL · Fullerton, 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
- 47
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Unknown
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 760 total · 550 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.