LAX98FA022

The pilot held a low altitude aerobatic waiver issued by the FAA and was demonstrating the aircraft to the second pilot. The accident site is in a designated aerobatic practice area, which has a floor of 1,500 feet agl. Radar data showed returns from a VFR aircraft maneuvering between 1,900 and 3,400 feet agl near the location and time of the accident. The minimum altitude of radar coverage in the area is approximately 2,100 feet agl. Two witnesses thought they were observing a radio controlled model aircraft from their car. The aerobatic aircraft performed a loop and then pulled up into vertical flight. The aircraft stopped pointing straight up, the nose dropped, and then the aircraft entered a nose down, right-hand spiral that continued for 8 to 20 seconds until the aircraft disappeared from sight behind an orchard. One witness reported that the aircraft was 'not up where planes normally fly, it was lower.' The aircraft impacted a dirt road in near vertical, nose down attitude with no evidence of rotation. An aerobatic maneuver sequence card was found in the wreckage; the first three maneuvers were a loop, followed by a hammerhead turn, and then an Immelman. Extensive reconstruction of the aircraft showed no evidence of preimpact failure of the aircraft or flight control system.

History of flight

On October 25, 1997, about 1715 hours Pacific daylight time, a Extra Flugzeugbau GMBH, EA-300, N69BW, was destroyed when it collided with terrain near Castaic, California, while performing aerobatic maneuvers. The commercial licensed flight instructor and the airline transport licensed student pilot were fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the aerobatic instructional flight which departed from the Van Nuys, California, airport about 1600.

Two people, a husband and wife, both without aviation expertise, were traveling in their car near the accident location at the approximate time of the accident. They reported observing what they thought was a large, radio controlled model airplane, about 1 mile in front of them, doing aerobatics, and believe that they witnessed the accident. They were eastbound on highway 126, which passes about 1/8th mile south of the accident site, about 1715, and reported that they were driving slowly because they were in an area of highway construction that is in the area of the accident site. Because they thought at the time that the aircraft was a model, they did not report the accident. They contacted the NTSB the day after the wreckage was located after reading about the accident in the newspaper.

The woman was a passenger in the car and observed the aircraft longer than her husband did. She observed the aircraft perform a "small loop." It then pulled "straight up" into vertical flight, after which it came straight down "just dropping and slowly spiraling" until it disappeared behind some orange trees. In a conversation with the Safety Board, she estimated that it was about 8 seconds from the top of the maneuver until the plane disappeared. She also said that the aircraft was "not up where planes normally fly, it was lower."

Her husband, the driver, reported that after his wife directed his attention to the aircraft, he saw it about 1 mile in front of them on the Lake Piru (north) side of the road. He reported that, when he saw it, it appeared to have just come out of a maneuver and that it was traveling "nose first in a clockwise tail spin towards the ground." He noted that "the tail of the plane was traveling in a larger circle than the nose of the plane." He estimated that when he first saw the plane it was 300 - 400 feet above ground level, and that it was 10 to 20 seconds from when he first saw the plane until it disappeared behind the orchard. He noted that "it appeared to me there was no attempt made to pull it out of the dive. It looked like the plane just spiraled towards the ground in a corkscrew/nose dive position."

An aerobatic maneuver sequence card found in the wreckage indicated that the first three maneuvers in the pilot's demonstration routine were a loop, followed by a hammerhead turn, and then an Immelman.

Personnel information

The pilot operated a flight school at Van Nuys which specialized in aerobatic flight training. According to a flight instructor who worked for the pilot, the purpose of the accident flight was to demonstrate the EA-300 aircraft to the second pilot. He held a low altitude aerobatic waiver issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The second pilot was employed as an airline pilot. Another airline pilot who knew the second pilot said they had recently talked at some length about her desire to get back into aerobatics and perform at airshows. This pilot characterized her as a very good airline pilot but said that, from their conversations, he felt that she hadn't flown much aerobatics for some time. He also said that she was very small in stature. The 100-pound weight reported on her medical was probably a maximum. She was skinny, almost anorexic, and had very little upper body strength. It was his opinion that if the pilot in the accident had been disabled for any reason, she would not have had much strength to overpower him, and might not have had enough strength to jettison the canopy during a dive and get out.

Aircraft information

The aircraft had accumulated approximately 385 hours total time since new. It had flown 118 hours since the last 100-hour/annual inspection, and a 50-hour inspection was performed 34 hours earlier.

A student of the pilot reported that he flew the with the pilot in the extra five times during the prior week and observed no mechanical discrepancies. Specifically, the flight controls worked freely and properly, as did the seat belts, and there were no discrepancies regarding the canopy.

Meteorological information

At the time of the accident, the Southern California area was under the influence of a Santa Ana wind condition, which is characterized by gusty surface winds from the north and east and turbulence over rough terrain.

At 1650, winds at Camarillo, 24 miles southwest of the accident location, were from 060 degrees at 20 knots. At the same time, at Van Nuys, 16 miles southeast of the accident site, surface winds were from 360 degrees at 12 knots. Between 1550 and 1750, the highest surface winds reported were at Camarillo at 1500, and were from 060 at 23 knots with gusts to 27 knots. During this time period, skies were reported clear and visibility of 40 miles or greater at both stations.

There was an AIRMET in effect at the time of the accident for Southern California, calling for occasional moderate to isolated severe turbulence below 10,000 feet due to moderate northeasterly to northerly wind flow over rough terrain.

The Transcribed Weather Broadcast for the route of flight from Santa Monica to Oxnard to Santa Barbara called for areas of surface winds from 030 at 25 knots with gusts to 35 knots and isolated gusts to 45 knots with strong up and downdrafts and low level windshear.

The Transcribed Weather Broadcast for the Soledad Pass and adjacent mountains called for areas of surface wind from 040 degrees at 30 knots with gusts to 40 knots, and local gusts to 55 knots with strong up and downdrafts.

Wreckage and impact information

The aircraft impacted on a level, dirt, service road located on the north side of the Santa Clarita River valley. The road is aligned east-west at the accident site, and is on the south face of a mountain slope which rises to approximately 2,000 feet agl about 1 mile north of the accident site. The approximate latitude is 34 degrees 24.28 minutes north, and longitude 118 degrees 42.56 minutes west (GPS). The elevation at the accident site is approximately 900 feet. The accident site is beneath the lateral confines of the aerobatic practice area which extends from 1,500 feet agl to 5,500 feet msl.

The majority of the wreckage was located at a single location on the north edge of the road. The engine was embedded, propeller hub first, into the packed dirt surface of the road, and only the engine accessory case was visible from above. The longitudinal axis of the engine was embedded at a 75-degree, nose down, angle with respect to horizontal on a heading of approximately 030 degrees.

The fuselage exhibited compression damage forward of the empennage and the flight control system was discontinuous at several locations. The fuselage was aligned on approximately a 030-degree heading and the cockpit and wing center section area were located adjacent to the engine. All of the instruments were destroyed except an engine tachometer which indicated 2,650 rpm and an altimeter which indicated 1,750 feet with a barometric setting of 30.00 inHg.

The male pilot was in the front cockpit and the female pilot was in the rear cockpit. Both pilot's restraint harnesses were fastened and they were both wearing street clothing. The female pilot was wearing canvas shoes (sneakers) and both shoes were off her feet when recovered from the wreckage. Foreign objects found loose in the wreckage were two rubber pads (Kitchenmaid), a folio (zipper case) containing aircraft records, and an eyeg