Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
French Valley Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Temecula, California 92589
Sunday, March 17, 1996 10:00 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot had recently purchased the airplane, and reportedly, this was his first flight in the plane. Witnesses stated the airplane took off and climbed to about 2,000 feet agl in the traffic pattern. The airplane was observed to maneuver through a full right roll and recover; then it entered a 2-turn spin to the right. Witnesses said the spin stopped, then started again, this time to the left. The left spin continued to ground impact. No discrepancies were identified during an examination of the wreckage. The pilot was a military aviator assigned to fly Sikorsky CH53E helicopters. A review of available pilot records did not disclosed evidence of recent fixed-wing flight activity.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
failure of the pilot to maintain control of the airplane, while performing an aerobatic maneuver, which resulted in inadvertent entry into a spin. Factors relating to the accident were: the pilot's lack of recent experience in fixed wing aircraft, his lack of experience in the make and model of airplane, and the lack of altitude to recover from an inadvertent spin.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/17/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1000 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | TEMECULA |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92589 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | FRENCH VALLEY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | F70 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1347 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 955 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 315 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RIV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1538 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 22 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 400 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Partial Obscuration |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 1.25 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 110 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 541 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 17 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1055 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 9:53AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N555GR |
| NTSB Number | LAX96LA137 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BUMFORD |
| Aircraft Model | GR-7 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | GR-7 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 001 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 750 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 15 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1 |
| Airframe Hours | 93 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BILL A. LARSON |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 782 |
| Aircraft Owner City | EDMOND |
| Aircraft Owner State | OK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 73083 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | GREGORY T. RIDDLE |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 29122 WAYFERER COURT |
| Operator City | LAKE ELSINORE |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 92530 |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | F70 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 950 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |