- Date
- October 20, 2012, 14:20 local (21:20 UTC)
- Place
- Live Oak, CA
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N187ABQuicksilver Mfg MXL II Sport
- Defining event
- Initial climb: Loss of lift
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 19, 2012
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA-FSDO
- FAA report
- 20121020026759A
- Case key
- 85379
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 pilot’s failure to compensate for turbulent conditions, which resulted in a loss of altitude.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported that he departed the airstrip, and the airplane experienced light turbulence. He entered a left traffic pattern to the downwind leg, and the turbulence stopped. After executing a touch-and-go landing, the pilot departed to the south. Subsequently, between 50 and 100 feet above ground level, the airplane began to lose lift. The pilot landed the airplane in a rice field, it nosed over as the wheels contacted the vegetation, and the airplane sustained substantial damage to the forward fuselage. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported he departed the airstrip and experienced light turbulence. He entered a left traffic pattern to the downwind leg and the turbulence stopped. After executing a touch-and-go landing the pilot departed to the south. Subsequently, between 50 and 100 feet above ground level (AGL) he began to lose lift. The pilot landed the airplane in a rice field and it nosed over as the wheels contacted the vegetation. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N187AB
- Reported as
- Quicksilver Mfg MXL II Sport
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 000790
- Airframe hours
- 95
- Engine
- Rotax 582DCDI, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Cameron Kane
- Registered owner
- Cameron Kane
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental light sport (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 2, 2012 · 30 hours before
- Departed
- N/A · Live Oak, CA
- Destination
- N/A · Live Oak, CA
- Airport
- N/A · Sutter Butte Dusters (Ag), runway 18, 2,200 × 30 ft, asphalt
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
- 40
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Sport Pilot, Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Unknown
- Last flight review
- May 8, 2012
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 153 total · 28 in this make and model · 112 as pilot in command · 10 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 40° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.79 inHg
- Observed at
- MYV, 11 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 1, 2012, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 199 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.