NTSB CAROL · Event
Event LAX04CA306
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
the pilot's failure to maintain adequate clearance from high vegetation while flying at a low altitude.
Factual narrative
On August 28, 2004, about 1730 Pacific daylight time, an experimental Quicksilver MXL II, N4358Z, collided with high vegetation and impacted terrain while flying at low altitude, 3 miles north of Rio Vista, California. The owner was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The pilot and passenger were not injured, and the airplane was substantially damaged. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. The local area personal flight originated at the Rio Vista airport about 1710. The pilot stated in the Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report (NTSB Form 6120.1/2) that he was flying northbound a few feet above an unused levee dirt road. The right wingtip struck a stand of high bamboo growing along the east side of the road. The airplane then hit the road, skidded off the road, and into some large rocks along the levee. Both occupants were able to extract themselves out of the wreckage. The light experimental airplane was flying northbound a few feet above an unused levee dirt road and the right wingtip struck a stand of high bamboo growing along the east side of the road. The airplane then hit the road, skidded off the road, and into some large rocks along the levee. Both occupants were uninjured, and able to extract themselves out of the wreckage. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2004_LAX04CA306.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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