- Date
- June 8, 2024, 12:10 local (19:10 UTC)
- Place
- Paso Robles, CA · Halter Ranch Airstrip (89CA)
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N208ZMPipistrel Italia S R L Alpha Trainer
- Defining event
- Landing: Loss of control in flight
- 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, Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20240608006919A
- Case key
- 194434
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 exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack that resulted in an aerodynamic stall and subsequent loss of control on final approach. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s decision to land with a tailwind.
Findings · 4
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 entered the traffic pattern for runway 04 and had previously received information by email from ground personnel, that the wind was from the south at 4 kts. While on final approach, the pilot initiated a forward slip to assist with the airplane’s descent and he terminated the slip, the stall warning horn sounded. After the stall warning horn sounded, the airplane “lost lift and had no control” as it descended into a vineyard located to the left of the runway. The airplane impacted the ground, rotated 180°, and came to rest upright. The wings, fuselage, and empennage sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N208ZM
- Reported as
- Pipistrel Italia S R L Alpha Trainer
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 920 AT 912 LSA
- Built
- 2018
- Airframe hours
- 163.9
- Engine
- Rotax 912UL, 80 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Special light-sport (Special)
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · May 28, 2024 · 4.1 hours before
- Departed
- 3O8 · Coalinga, CA
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- 89CA · Halter Ranch Airstrip, runway 04/22, 3,353 × 25 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Angle of attack indicator, Airframe parachute, ADS-B, Satellite tracking device, Handheld GPS, Electronic primary flight display, Electronic flight bag or handheld 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
- 44
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Sport Pilot
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Sport pilot
- Last flight review
- May 24, 2023
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 141 total · 141 in this make and model · 90 as pilot in command · 12 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 190° at 15 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.90 inHg
- Observed at
- KPRB, 11 nm away
- METAR
- KPRB 081853Z AUTO 19015KT 10SM CLR 21/12 A2990
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 11, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.5 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.