Extra Flugzeugbau EA 300/L N4BM

Summary

On 2 September 2015 at about 01:40 local time, a Extra Flugzeugbau EA 300/L registered N4BM was involved in an accident near Jerome, Idaho, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

2 September 2015 at 01:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Jerome, Idaho, United States

Nearest airport

Jerome County (JER)

Coordinates

42.7217, -114.4392

Aircraft

Extra Flugzeugbau EA 300/L

Registration

N4BM

Category

Airplane

Year built

1996

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Jerome → Jerome

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR15LA255

1 person was seriously injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from terrain while conducting a low-altitude aerobatic maneuver.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot was conducting a local personal flight. A witness located at the airport reported that he observed the accident airplane take off and then head southwest. He then observed the airplane perform a loop, and he estimated that, at the top of the maneuver, the airplane was about 1,500 ft above ground level. As the airplane began leveling off at the bottom of the loop, it descended out of the witness's line of sight behind a building. The pilot reported that he did not recall anything about the flight. Postaccident examination of the recovered wreckage did not reveal any preexisting mechanical malfunctions that would have precluded normal operation. Wreckage and impact signatures were consistent with a high-energy, low-angle impact with terrain. It is likely that the pilot did not properly gauge the airplane's distance from terrain while conducting the low-altitude aerobatic maneuver and failed to level off in time to avoid impacting terrain.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.