Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Mesa, Arizona 85210
Monday, May 31, 2004 9:05 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
!! THIS CASE WAS MODIFIED JANUARY 18, 2006!!
While performing aerobatics, the airplane stalled, entered a spin, and collided with the ground in an uncontrolled descent. The pilot and passenger departed from a nearby airport for a local area scenic flight. A witness reported seeing the airplane doing a series of loops and turns. An additional witness reported seeing the airplane pitch up, turn to the left, and then enter a counterclockwise spin prior to impact with the ground. According to the pilot's family, he did not do aerobatics in the airplane. The pilot purchased the airplane about 2 months prior to the accident and had accumulated approximately 41 hours in the accident airplane. A Safety Board meteorologist reported that an evaluation of surrounding weather at the time of the accident indicated clear skies. Post accident examination of the airframe and engine did not reveal any control or powerplant malfunctions. The pilot had severe coronary artery disease noted on autopsy and a history of Type II diabetes which had not been revealed to the FAA. It was not possible to determine whether symptoms from these conditions contributed either to the pilot's decision to engage in aerobatics or his ultimate failure to maintain airspeed
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to maintain an adequate airspeed while performing aerobatics that resulted in an inadvertent stall and spin.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/31/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 905 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Mesa |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85210 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 333402N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1113907W |
| 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 | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 848 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 198 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FFZ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1394 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 8 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| 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) | 50 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 30 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.93 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 18493 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 31 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1020 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 27 2005 6:51AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-SDL-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N48579 |
| NTSB Number | LAX04FA223 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Boeing |
| Aircraft Model | B75N1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 75-6929 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2950 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 24 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2051.34 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | John Matlock |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | On File |
| Aircraft Owner City | Mesa |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85210 |
| 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 | FFZ |
| Departure City | Falcon Field |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 850 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| 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 2 2005 5:27PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |