Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Santa Ynez Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Santa Ynez, California 93460
Saturday, January 28, 2006 13:10 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane impacted a soft dirt open field near the airport while in an uncontrolled descent. It was destroyed by impact forces and post impact ground fire. A ground-based witness, who also was a pilot, reported that he heard the airplane during its approach to the airport. The witness stated that the airplane's engine was revved up and the engine sounded "firewalled." No evidence of any catastrophic preimpact engine failure was observed during the Federal Aviation Administration's on-scene examination of the wreckage. The FAA inspector reported that, based upon the distribution of wreckage and the ground scar signatures, it appeared that the airplane impacted with a significant right wing down attitude and cartwheeled as it came to rest. A post impact fire destroyed the airplane and no findings could be made regarding the preimpact integrity of the control system. The pilot was the experimental airplane's owner-builder. Approximately 3 months before the crash, the pilot had experienced a mishap when oil pressure was lost. The propeller went into an uncommanded flat pitch, and the pilot experienced a runaway propeller when the engine revved up. The pilot returned to the Santa Ynez Airport, landed hard, and the propeller struck the ground damaging its tips. Thereafter, the pilot shortened the propeller by 1.5 to 2.0 inches. The pilot also made additional repairs to his airplane. The accident occurred during the pilot's next flight. The cause of the apparent runaway propeller was not determined.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Loss of airplane control for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/28/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1310 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Santa Ynez |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93460 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 343543N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1200503W |
| Event Location Airport | Santa Ynez |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | IZA |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 671 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1255 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 45 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | IZA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 671 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| 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) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.23 |
| 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) | 22177 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 28 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 27 2007 11:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP FSDO Van Nuys, CA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N79Y |
| NTSB Number | LAX06LA096 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Reichel |
| Aircraft Model | Lancair 360 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | -- |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Richard A. Reichel |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Santa Barbara |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93105 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Santa Barbara |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 93105 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | IZA |
| Departure City | Santa Ynez |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | IZA |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 13 2007 1:35PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 26 |
| Runway Length | 2804 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |