Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Boise, Idaho 83634
Thursday, July 8, 2004 18:30 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot was performing a variety of aerobatic maneuvers in a low level aerobatic box over flat desert terrain. Two cameras positioned to document the flight sequence revealed the pilot initiated a loop maneuver by pulling the nose of the airplane up into a vertical climb attitude and continuing to the top of the maneuver until in an inverted position. The pilot continued the maneuver by descending on the back side of the loop. As the aircraft was approaching the bottom of the maneuver in an approximately 20 degree nose down, wings level attitude at an altitude of less than 100 feet above ground level, the airplane was observed to make a quick shallow left bank, followed immediately by a second shallow bank to the right. The airplane's wings then momentarily returned to a level attitude before impacting flat open terrain with its right main landing gear and right wing tip. The pilot said he couldn't remember the specific maneuver prior to making contact with the ground, and could not recall being concerned with not having enough clearance to complete the maneuver. A post accident examination of the airplane failed to reveal any anomalies which would have precluded normal operations.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The failure of the pilot to maintain clearance with terrain during descent while conducting an aerobatic maneuver. Low altitude flight was a factor.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/8/2004
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1830
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Boise
Event State IDAHO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 83634
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 432522N
Event Location Longitude 1161323W
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 1853 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 355
Weather Observation Facility ID BOI
Elevation of weather observation facility 2871
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 10
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
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) 26
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -6
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 40
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.85
Density Altitude (feet) 4942
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 2
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 17487
NTSB Notification Source Seattle Regional Operations Ce
NTSB Notification Date Jul 8 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1750
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Mar 30 2005 6:20AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Boise, Idaho

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N609JW
NTSB Number SEA04FA127
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 Extra Flugzeugrau GMBH
Aircraft Model EA 300/L
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 033
Certified Max Gross Weight 2095
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 13 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 48
Airframe Hours 734
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Adrenaline Airsports, LLC
Aircraft Owner Street Address 5005 Aviation Way
Aircraft Owner City Caldwell
Aircraft Owner State ID
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 83605
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Steven R. Appleton
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Boise
Operator State ID
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 83706
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 BOI
Departure City Boise
Departure State ID
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1800
Departure Time Zone MDT
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 Descent
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record --
User who most recently changed record --
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --