Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Baker, California 92309
Saturday, April 28, 2001 14:05 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot lost control of the airplane while maneuvering at low altitude and the airplane descended to ground impact. The pilot was to overfly his son, who was at a remote ranch retreat, so that the son would know to pick him up at the local airport. The airplane flew over the retreat one time and the pilot made radio contact with his son. The pilot was attempting a second pass and he told his son that he could not fly close to the mountains due to the high winds. The pilot did not report any difficulties or performance abnormalities to the son. The son said that as the airplane passed over, it rolled to the left, and then sharply to the right before descending to the ground. Winds at the time of the accident were gusting up to 24 knots at Barstow, California, located approximately 50 miles away.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain an adequate airspeed while maneuvering at low altitude, which led to an inadvertent stall/spin. The wind gusts were a factor.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/28/2001
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1405
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City BAKER
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 92309
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 351150N
Event Location Longitude 1160441W
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 --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1354 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 230
Weather Observation Facility ID DAG
Elevation of weather observation facility 1927
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 50
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 31
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -2
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 270
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 18
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 24
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.81
Density Altitude (feet) 3235
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
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) 14457
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Apr 28 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1504
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Nov 25 2003 11:36AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-RAL-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N51DA
NTSB Number LAX01LA141
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name MOTLEY VANS
Aircraft Model RV-6A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 24195
Certified Max Gross Weight 1800
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 Dec 18 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 307
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name DAVID M. MOTLEY
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City SANTA ANA
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 92705
Operator is an individual? No
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? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
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 CNO
Departure City CHINO
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code 0O2
Destination City BAKER
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Maneuvering
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Sep 23 2003 3:13PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --