- Date
- June 30, 1992, 09:15 local (16:15 UTC)
- Place
- Chatsworth, CA
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N27BPHolmes-Salley/Starduster Too SA300
- Weather
- Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 28, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19920630022629A
- Case key
- 27439
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 pilots inflight loss of control for undetermined reasons and an inadvertent entry into a stall spin. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's lack of total experience in type of aircraft and a low cloud cover.
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 had purchased the experimental 'starduster too' sa 300 airplane about eight days before the accident. He had accumulated about 15 hours in the airplane. The pilot and a pilot rated passenger departed at 0831 hours under a broken to overcast cloud condition to an airport about 30 miles to the west for breakfast. Witnesses reported seeing the airplane spiraling or spinning out of the clouds and impact mountainous terrain. The witnesses stated that the overcast was about 100 to 200 above the terrain at the 1900 foot MSL accident site. Pilot reports indicated that the cloud tops were around 3500 feet MSL. The witnesses also stated that they heard the airplane flying back and forth in or above the clouds just prior to seeing it spiraling or spinning out of the clouds. The elevator trim tab was located in the full tab down position.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N27BP
- Reported as
- Holmes-Salley/Starduster Too SA300
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1648
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-C1B5, 250 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Sammy Roth, Stacy Mamer
- Registered owner
- Sammy Roth, Stacy Mamer
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 21, 1992 · 18 hours before
- Departed
- VNY · Van Nuys, CA
- Destination
- SZP · Santa Paula, 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
- 37
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Rear
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 1,095 total · 15 in this make and model · 1,022 as pilot in command · 96 in the last 90 days · 40 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Day
- Wind
- 0° at 1 knots
- Visibility
- 3 statute miles
- Observed at
- VNY, 10 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.