NTSB LAX86FA304 — 1986-07-27 · YUCCA VALLEY, California, United States

N315W has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (BEECH A36), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

N315W PLAYMATE SA-11A Fatal

Factual narrative

THE PIC PLANNED A LOCAL FLIGHT IN HIS HOMEBUILT 'PLAYMATE' EXPERIMENTAL ACFT. A WITNESS REPORTED OBSERVING THE ACFT 1/8 MI N OF THE UNCONTROLLED ARPT IN A SPIN. THE PLT RECOVERED FM THE SPIN AT 200 FT AGL, & THEN ENTERED A NEAR VERTICAL DESCENT UNTIL COLLIDING WITH TERRAIN. THERAPEUTIC LEVELS OF CODEINE AND MORPHINE WERE DETECTED DURING THE AUTOPSY. USAGE OF THESE COMPOUNDS IS DISQUALIFING FOR FLYING AIRCRAFT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1986_LAX86FA304.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.