- Date
- July 4, 1993, 14:53 local (21:53 UTC)
- Place
- Samoa, CA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N410ZECurtis Rans S-12
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 19, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19930704021869A
- Case key
- 27982
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 inadvertent stall of the airplane. Factors related to this accident were: the emergency parachute system that was deployed by the pilot, the partial failure of the parachute survival equipment to deploy properly, and the insufficient information provided by the aircraft parachute manufacturer.
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
Several witnesses reported that the airplane, which has a rear mounted engine, seemed to be having some difficulty with controllability due to the high winds in the area. The consensus was that the airplane appeared to enter a stall, and then it spun several times before impacting the ground. The aircraft ballistic parachute system was manually deployed by the pilot, but did not inflate behind the airplane. The parachute was found entangled in the crankshaft just forward of the propeller. The parachute owners manual states the engine should be stopped prior to deployment of the parachute. It also recommends not deploying the parachute in 'strong winds or convection', although no specific guidelines were found for the pilot to follow in the event he encountered such phenomena. A senior technician who worked at the parachute manufacturer approved the installation of the parachute per photo documentation, as required by the manufacturer. The company could not provide a written record of the approval. The manual does not address a minimum recommended altitude or a minimum speed for the deployment of the parachute. Post crash investigation failed to find any pre existing failure/malfunction of the propeller or powerplant.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N410ZE
- Reported as
- Curtis Rans S-12
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 0591083
- Engine
- Rotax 582, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Bish, Gregory Keith
- Registered owner
- Bish, Gregory Keith
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Unknown · January 2, 2000
- Departed
- 033 · Eureka, 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 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 265 total · 187 in this make and model · 255 as pilot in command · 62 in the last 90 days · 14 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 330° at 20 knots, gusting 25
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ACV, 14 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.