Fouga 6 CM 170 N495F

Summary

On 9 April 2000 at about 14:15 local time, a Fouga 6 CM 170 registered N495F was involved in an accident near San Joaquin, California, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

9 April 2000 at 14:15

Classification

Accident

Location

San Joaquin, California, United States

Coordinates

36.5907, -120.1905

Aircraft

Fouga 6 CM 170

Registration

N495F

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fresno → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX00FA148

2 people died.

The pilot's intentional performance of aerobatic maneuvers that resulted in the aircraft stalling and entering a spin from which he did not recover. A factor in the accident was the pilot's lack of experience in the aircraft.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The evening before the accident the second pilot told his fiancee he and the pilot were going to perform 'maneuvers, top gun type of stuff.' A witness observed the ex-military jet airplane perform two loops and two roll maneuvers. At the end of the second roll the witness observed the aircraft enter a spin from about 2,000 feet above ground level. This witness and two additional witnesses then observed the airplane descend in a spin to the left accompanied by loud engine noise. Two of the witnesses reported that when the airplane was about 200 feet agl it appeared the spin stopped and the nose of the aircraft was coming up to a level flight attitude when the airplane rolled abruptly to the right and spun to the ground. The wreckage distribution was consistent with a high energy, steep flight path angle, impact with the ground. The pilot was a former helicopter and utility aircraft pilot in the U.S. Army. He received 6 hours of training in the accident aircraft about 2 months before the accident, which did not include any aerobatic training. He stated his intent to return for additional training, to include aerobatics, at a later date after he was more experienced in the aircraft. The pilot was issued an FAA Letter of Authority to operate the experimental-category aircraft about 3 weeks before the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.