Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Yuma Mcas/Yuma Intl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Yuma, Arizona 85365
Friday, April 11, 1997 19:35 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
An air show routine was being performed at sunset, which involved a giant ring of flames at center stage of the show. Once established on the last pass through the ring of fire, the pilot planned to fly inverted and cut a ribbon with the propeller blades. She reported that while flying inverted during the third pass, the airplane impacted the ground. The pilot stated that she remembered the turn-around, rolling inverted, and establishing her sight picture for the run-in. However, the next few seconds were a total blank in her memory, with her visual picture resuming with the sparks created by the inverted slide. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical difficulties with the airplane. An FAA inspector reported that the 'Ring of Fire' routine required the pilot to fly directly into the setting sun, then turn around for the inverted pass. The inspector established on-scene that no mechanical or engine abnormalities had occurred.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to maintain adequate vertical clearance from the runway, while flying inverted. Factors relating to the accident were: the light conditions at dusk, and the pilot's lack of visual ques due to the light conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/11/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1935 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | YUMA |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85365 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | YUMA MCAS/YUMA INTL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | YUM |
| 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 | 213 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1937 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | NYL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 213 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Unknown |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| 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 | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 712 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 11 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 0 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:13PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N325GP |
| NTSB Number | LAX97LA155 |
| 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 | Gordon Price |
| Aircraft Model | ULTIMATE 10-300S |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | ULTIMATE 1 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 300-001 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2000 |
| 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 | Apr 25 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 231 |
| Airframe Hours | 1532 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JOANN OSTERUD |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 5830 |
| Aircraft Owner City | OXNARD |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93031 |
| 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) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | YUM |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1928 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | YUM |
| 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 | 21L |
| Runway Length | 9239 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |