Birx VANS RV-6 N986DB

Summary

On 27 March 2000 at about 23:07 local time, a Birx VANS RV-6 registered N986DB was involved in an accident near Taft, 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

27 March 2000 at 23:07

Classification

Accident

Location

Taft, California, United States

Nearest airport

Taft (L17)

Coordinates

35.1601, -119.4294

Aircraft

Birx VANS RV-6

Registration

N986DB

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Business

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Tracy → Van Nuys

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX00LA141

2 people died.

The in-flight collision with the ground for undetermined reasons.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Without notifying air traffic control during a flight conducted under instrument flight rules, the pilot descended from 11,000 feet until impacting 900-foot msl terrain in a nose low attitude and with a relatively high rate of speed. At the time, visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and the sky was clear. Earlier, the pilot had departed California's central valley on a business flight with an intended southern California destination. En route communications were normal and the pilot was responsive to the radar controller's instructions to climb from 10,000 to 11,000 feet. About 1.5 minutes after receiving an updated altimeter setting, the airplane began descending. The pilot did not report vacating 11,000 feet, nor did he communicate the existence of any emergency. Minutes later, the airplane, which had just passed abeam the Tracy airport (closest airport to the airplane's location) reversed direction and turned toward Tracy. During the last 2 minutes of recorded flight, the airplane's descent rate averaged 1,550 feet per minute. Ground scar signatures were indicative of the airplane impacting terrain in a wings level attitude, and thereafter sustaining structural fragmentation. The impact occurred on level terrain about 1.3 miles short of the airport. The engine and propeller were found in a 3-foot-deep impact crater. Components were found as far as 317 feet from the crater. There was no evidence of fire. The pilot maintained his airplane on an annual inspection basis, and he had flown it since manufacture in 1998 for a total of 220 hours. He had made 64 flights in the airplane during the preceding 12 months. The pilot was reportedly in good health. The radar track plot provided evidence that the pilot successfully negotiated a course reversal turn and was initially able to head toward the nearest airport. The pilot was, however, unable to arrest the 1,550 foot-per-minute rate of descent. No evidence was found in the fragmented wreckage regarding the reason for the steep descent to ground impact.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.