N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Piru, California 93015
Thursday, July 5, 2012 13:24 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The flight instructor and commercial pilot were conducting a flight review during daytime visual flight rules conditions. Multiple witnesses near the accident site reported observing the accident airplane descending in a nose-low attitude while spinning. Witness reports, findings from the wreckage examination and recovered GPS data are consistent with the airplane entering a stall as part of the flight review and a subsequent spin. A postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The airplane was equipped with dual flight controls; however, it could not be determined which pilot was manipulating the controls at the time of the accident nor could it be determined why neither pilot was able to recover from the spin. The airplane was also equipped with a rescue ballistic parachute system. The arming handle was found fractured from the cabin roof due to a force on the handle that loaded the adhesive joint in peel mode. The arming pin was not engaged within the arming handle and exhibited a permanent bend. Fretting wear deposits were present on the retaining pin shank, suggesting that the pin was most likely engaged within the handle a significant portion of the time when the airplane was in motion. It could not be determined if the arming pin was removed before the flight or at some point during the flight. The parachute was not deployed. Medical record review revealed that the left seat pilot had significant preexisting heart disease. However, due to the limitations of the available medical evidence, the investigation could not determine if the pilot had an acute cardiac event during the flight that degraded his ability to operate the aircraft. Toxicology tests for the pilot were positive for Metoprolol, Ticlopidine, and Valsartan, which are commonly used to treat high blood pressure and angina, to control heart rate in some arrhythmias, and to reduce the risk of stroke. Toxicology testing for the flight instructor, who was seated in the right seat, revealed evidence of previous marijuana use; however no active compound was detected in the postmortem blood, thus it is unlikely that he was experiencing acute impairment from marijuana at the time of the accident.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot’s failure to recover from a stall, which resulted in a spin. Contributing to the accident was the instructor’s inadequate remedial action.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/5/2012
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1324
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Piru
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 93015
Event Date Year 2012
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 342427N
Event Location Longitude 1184516W
Event Location Airport N/A
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 1955 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 235
Weather Observation Facility ID CMA
Elevation of weather observation facility 77
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 20
Time Zone of the weather observation UTC
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 1600
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Thin Broken
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 18
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 15
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator Light and Variable
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.98
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report METAR KCMA 051955Z VRB04KT 10SM OVC016 18/15 A2998
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) 33493
NTSB Notification Source FAA Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Dec 4 2014 1:48PM
User who most recently changed record eckd
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N177N
NTSB Number WPR12FA295
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name TL ULTRALIGHT SRO
Aircraft Model STINGSPORT
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number TLUSA 153
Certified Max Gross Weight 1320
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 Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jul 1 2012 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 1
Airframe Hours 215.9
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name BELL HARRY A TRUSTEE
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City BULLHEAD CITY
Aircraft Owner State AZ
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 86442-7054
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name BELL HARRY A TRUSTEE
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City BULLHEAD CITY
Operator State AZ
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 86442-7054
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code --
Departure City Van Nuys
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1300
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Van Nuys
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Dec 4 2014 1:57PM
User who most recently changed record stam
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 --