Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Point Reyes Stn, California 94546
Sunday, February 23, 1992 15:45 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A CHRISTEN EAGLE II LOST CONTROL DURING ACROBATIC MANEUVERS, COLLIDED WITH COASTAL WATERS AND WAS NEVER RECOVERED. THE AIRPLANE WAS OBSERVED IN A STEEP CLIMB, DID A WING OVER, AND THEN ENTERED A SPIN. AFTER 4 TO 5 ROTATIONS IN THE SPIN THE AIRPLANE STARTED TO PULL OUT. THE AIRPLANE WAS THEN OBSERVED ROTATING AS IF IN A SPIN AND SIMULTANEOUSLY FLIPPING NOSE OVER UNTIL ITS TAIL STRUCK THE WATER. THE PILOT'S TOTAL DOCUMENTED AERONAUTICAL EXPERIENCE IN THE ACCIDENT AIRPLANE MAKE AND MODEL WAS 14 FLIGHT HOURS. INVESTIGATORS DETERMINED THAT THE AIRPLANE'S WEIGHT EXCEEDED THE MAXIMUM NORMAL AND AEROBATIC ALLOWABLE GROSS WEIGHT. THE CENTER OF GRAVITY (CG) EXCEEDED THE AFT LIMIT OF THE AIRPLANE'S AEROBATIC ALLOWABLE CG. THE AIRPLANE FLIGHT MANUAL PUBLISHES A WARNING WHICH STATES IN PART; 'PILOTS MUST TAKE WEIGHT AND BALANCE RESPONSIBILITIES SERIOUSLY. ALL AIRCRAFT MUST BE LOADED SO THAT THE AIRCRAFT CG WILL REMAIN WITHIN SAFE LIMITS AT ALL TIMES. ALL SPIN RECOVERY PROCEDURES DEPEND ON HAVING THE CG REMAIN WITHIN DESIGN LIMITS.'
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
IMPROPER PREFLIGHT PLANNING BY THE PILOT IN COMMAND BY EXCEEDING THE AIRPLANE'S MAXIMUM ACROBATIC GROSS WEIGHT AND EXCEEDING THE AFT AEROBATIC CENTER OF GRAVITY LIMIT. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE PILOT'S DECISION TO PERFORM ACROBATIC MANEUVERS WHICH RESULTED IN A INADVERTENT STALL FROM WHICH RECOVERY WAS NOT POSSIBLE.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/23/1992 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1545 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | POINT REYES STN |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 94546 |
| Event Date Year | 1992 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1545 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 350 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | STS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 125 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 37 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| 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) | 30 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 20 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 320 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2149 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 23 1992 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2045 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 2:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N24CE |
| NTSB Number | LAX92LA365 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Aircraft Explosion | Unknown |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Christen Industries |
| Aircraft Model | EAGLE II |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | EAGLE II |
| Aircraft Serial Number | WRIGHT-0001 |
| 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 2 1991 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | RAOULS, BERNARD H. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 10684 |
| Aircraft Owner City | ZEPHER COVE |
| Aircraft Owner State | NV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 89448 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | RAOULS, BERNARD H. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. BOX 10684 |
| Operator City | ZEPHER COVE |
| Operator State | NV |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 89448 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | STS |
| Departure City | SONOMA |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1430 |
| 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 | Oct 10 2002 3:53PM |
| 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 | -- |