De Havilland DH-82A N5050C

Summary

On 11 July 1998 at about 02:10 local time, a De Havilland DH-82A registered N5050C was involved in an accident near Sedona, Arizona, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

11 July 1998 at 02:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Sedona, Arizona, United States

Coordinates

34.9408, -111.9405

Aircraft

De Havilland DH-82A

Registration

N5050C

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Sedona → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX98LA227

Nobody was injured.

The failure of the pilot to maintain a visual clearance with the trees.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was filming a commercial and was making coordinated low passes with a car on the ground while attempting to drop a mailbag into the car for purposes of the commercial story line. On the last pass, the pilot impacted the top 2 1/2 feet of a tree while flying about 50 to 60 mph. He reported that the tree was off the aircraft nose and stated that he never saw it. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions with the aircraft prior to the accident, nor was there any visibility restriction.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.