Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Redlands Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Redlands, California 92374
Monday, February 8, 2010 12:50 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Witnesses reported that the pilot completed several loops and other aerobatic maneuvers over the course of about 10 minutes. The airplane then began a spin from a low altitude and continued in a "corkscrew" path until colliding with the ground. Ground scar analysis and wreckage fragmentation disclosed that the airplane impacted in a slight nose-low attitude at a relatively low airspeed, an indication that the pilot was likely recovering from the spin at the time of impact. An examination of the wreckage revealed that all major components were accounted for at the accident site; flight control continuity could not be established due to the extensive fragmentation of the wreckage. The pilot had amassed 21.1 hours flight time in the make/model airplane, which included 7.7 hours of dual aerobatic training and 5.2 hours of solo aerobatic time.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control and altitude sufficient to recover from a low-level aerobatic maneuver.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/8/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1250 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Redlands |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92374 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 340540N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1170735w |
| Event Location Airport | Redlands Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | REI |
| 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 | 1571 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1253 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SBD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1159 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.94 |
| 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) | 27621 |
| NTSB Notification Source | WPR ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 13 2010 5:31PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N52VY |
| NTSB Number | WPR10FA131 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | YAKOVLEV |
| Aircraft Model | YAK 52 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 855608 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2340 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 1 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 963 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GAUTHIER JOSEPH M |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | RIVERSIDE |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92507-0617 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | GAUTHIER JOSEPH M |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | RIVERSIDE |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 92507-0617 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | REI |
| Departure City | Redlands |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1230 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | REI |
| Destination City | Redlands |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 13 2010 5:19PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |