Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Santa Clarita, California 91350
Sunday, November 2, 2003 15:55 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane collided with terrain during low altitude maneuvers. Witnesses heard the loud engine noise, which got their attention. The airplane was very low, just several hundred feet above the ground. The airplane turned and the left wing went straight up and down, and then the airplane turned upright. It went into a second left turn, but this time it went straight down. It seemed to spin, and the engine was loud the whole time. Witnesses said that the airplane looked symmetrical; they could see both wings and tip tanks. Some witnesses thought that the engine sounded erratic for a short while, but then noted that it was loud until impact. An experienced pilot in the T33 trained the accident pilot, and said that the pilot was very conscientious. The pilot would not always wear his G-suit, when they routinely practiced aerobatics. They would land at a nearby airport, refuel, and then return to Van Nuys. Another pilot reported that the pilot did not unpin all six ejection pins. He would pull the canopy pins, but not the seat pins. There was a pin on the floor on each side of the seat, and he normally left both seat pins in. The pilot had called his wife to tell her that he was going flying near the high desert practice area. He was going to do aerobatics, fly around, and come back. The airplane was highly fragmented, and investigators could not establish control continuity. The engine sustained mechanical damage, and displayed evidence of rotation under power at impact.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to maintain adequate clearance from terrain during low altitude maneuvers.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/2/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1555 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Santa Clarita |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 91350 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 342200N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1183000W |
| 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1551 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 170 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | VNY |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 802 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 7500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.92 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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) | 20562 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 2 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1610 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 31 2006 8:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-VNY-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N99192 |
| NTSB Number | LAX04LA034 |
| 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 | Canadair |
| Aircraft Model | T33 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 21118 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 1 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3780 |
| ELT Installed | -- |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Daniel M. Lavigna, Jr. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Tarzana |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 91356 |
| 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 | VNY |
| Departure City | Van Nuys |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1547 |
| 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? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 23 2006 4:33PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |