- Date
- April 24, 2022, 18:45 local (Apr 25, 2022, 01:45 UTC)
- Place
- Eloy, AZ
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N3694UCessna 182G
- Defining event
- Enroute: Aerodynamic stall/spin
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Adminstration
- FAA report
- 20220424005759A
- Case key
- 104993
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 unoccupied airplanes exceedance of the critical angle of attack which resulted in a stall, subsequent inverted spin, and impact with terrain.
Findings · 1
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 accident airplane was part of an exhibition event, the goal of which was for two pilots to fly two similarly equipped airplanes in a vertical dive, after which they would simultaneously bail out and transfer to the other airplane. The pilot of one airplane was able to successfully transfer to the other airplane and land without incident, however, the other pilot could not enter the second airplane because it entered an inverted spin shortly after egress. The pilot reported that he believed the airplane entered a spin due to the ballast that was added to offset the weight of the safety pilot. He added that the airplane was outfitted with a parachute system that was designed to trigger at an altitude of 1,000 ft, and deployed while the airplane was inverted, which resulted in it only being partially deployed when the airplane impacted the ground and was substantially damaged.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3694U
- Reported as
- Cessna 182G
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18255094
- Built
- 1963
- Airframe hours
- 5,505.34
- Engine
- Continental O-470-L, 275 hp, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Para Tactics LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 14, 2022 · 68.27 hours before
- Airport
- AZ04
- Equipment
- Airframe parachute, Auto-pilot, Stall warning system, ADS-B, Video recording device
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
- 48
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- February 23, 2022
- Seat
- None
- Restraint
- None
- Flight hours
- 5,569 total · 5,209 as pilot in command · 66 in the last 90 days · 22 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 320° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 7 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.91 inHg
- Observed at
- KCGZ, 18 nm away
- METAR
- KCGZ 250156Z AUTO 32006KT 10SM CLR 26/M14 A2991 RMK AO2 SLP120 T02611144
Docket · 8
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 28, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 128 MB 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.