- Date
- September 28, 1991, 13:30 local (20:30 UTC)
- Place
- Incline Village, NV
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N432ECChristian Ind. Eagle II
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 31, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910928043539A
- Case key
- 27374
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 failure of the pilot to recover from the maneuver in a timely manner which resulted in the airplane striking the water.
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
A christian eagle ii collided with the water while performing aerobatics. Numerous witnesses indicated that the airplane appeared to aerodynamically stall at the top of a vertical climb as in a hammerhead maneuver and then entered into a spin. The airplane stopped spinning and continued to descend in a 45 degree nose down attitude until it collided with the water's surface. The pilot held a FAA statement of acrobatic competency which was issued on may 13, 1991. According to the christian eagle ii pilot operating handbook spins are approved maneuvers and may be performed intentionally.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N432EC
- Reported as
- Christian Ind. Eagle II
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 0001
- Engine
- Lycoming AEIO-360-A1D, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Beck, Donald
- Registered owner
- Beck, Donald
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Unknown · January 2, 2000
- Departed
- O04 · Carson City, NV
- Destination
- TRK · Truckee, 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
- 69
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Rear
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 6,500 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 40 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- TVL, 11 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.