Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Inyokern Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Inyokern, California 93527
Friday, June 14, 1996 15:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot and pilot rated passenger departed and climbed to 6,500 feet msl, and performed an aileron roll. The pilot returned to the airport and entered the landing traffic pattern. After turning onto the base leg, he decided he needed more room between the airplane and the end of the runway, so he turned away from the runway. During this maneuver, the airplane buffeted and aileron and elevator control were lost. The pilot further reported that he applied full engine power, but the airplane stalled and crashed into the ground. Two witnesses observed the airplane on the base leg, and while maneuvering during its last few seconds of flight. Both of the witnesses estimated that the airplane was not flying higher than 300 feet agl. The witnesses reported seeing the aircraft turn away from the landing runway, enter a steep left bank turn and then turn back toward the runway. Both witnesses stated that during the turn/maneuver the bank angle increased to at least 80 degrees. The airplane appeared to stall and then descend into the terrain. The pilot rated passenger said the pilot pushed the aircraft beyond its' capabilities. The temperature was about 105 degrees Fahrenheit with a density altitude of about 6,000 feet.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to maintain control of his airplane and stalled while intentionally performing a low altitude maneuver on base leg in a high density altitude environment.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/14/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | INYOKERN |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93527 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | INYOKERN |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | IYK |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 2455 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1451 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | IYK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 36 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | FAA |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1196 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 14 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1602 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:04AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N43BL |
| NTSB Number | LAX96LA231 |
| 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 | Vans |
| Aircraft Model | RV6 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | RV6 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 21612 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 6 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 25 |
| Airframe Hours | 138 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ROBERT E. LAPEE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 43126 23RD STREET W. |
| Aircraft Owner City | LANCASTER |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93536 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | IYK |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1435 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | IYK |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 33 |
| Runway Length | 7100 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |