- Date
- August 1, 1991, 17:00 local (Aug 2, 1991, 00:00 UTC)
- Place
- Lake Elsinore, CA
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N1693GChampion 7GCBC
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 15, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910801031099A
- Case key
- 27313
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 in-flight failure of the right elevator. Factors relating to this accident was the pilot's decision to perform aerobatics at an improper altitude.
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 departed the privately owned airport on an acrobatic flight over a lake. Witnesses observed the airplane enter into a series of loops and rolls at less than 300 ft above the ground. When it entered a hammerhead stall maneuver the airplane began to spin in a near vertical nose down attitude from which it did not recover. The airplane impacted the lake in this attitude killing the private pilot and passenger. Examination of the wreckage disclosed the right elevator tube failed at its butt-weld joint while in flight.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1693G
- Reported as
- Champion 7GCBC
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 136
- Airframe hours
- 1,572
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A2B, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Halbeisen, John F, doing business as Halbeisen Associates
- Registered owner
- Halbeisen, John F
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 28, 1990 · 23 hours before
- Departed
- L49 · Lake Elsinore, 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
- 76
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 32,316 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 290° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 3 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.