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LAX86LA122

1986-02-21 · SANTA YNEZ, California, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport IZA

N50CH has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (CESSNA 182P, built 1975), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

A HOMEBUILT AERODROME FOKKER DR1 CRASHED AFTER TAKEOFF. THE ACFT HAD BEEN IN STORAGE FOR OVER 5 YRS AND HAD JUST COMPLETED AN ANNUAL INSPECTION.THE FLT WAS A POST ANNUAL INSPECTION TEST FLT.THE PLT HAD EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE MAINTAINING AND FLYING HOMEBUILT ACFT AND BIPLANES, BUT HE HAD NEVER FLOWN A TRI-WING ACFT BEFORE. THE ACFT CLIMBED TO APPROXIMATELY 50 FT AFTER TAKEOFF AND MAINTAINED THAT ALT DOWN THE LENGTH OF THE RWY. AT THE END OF THE RWY THE ACFT BEGAN A SKIDDING LEFT TURN AND A CLIMB. WHILE IN THE TURN THE ACFT NOSE PITCHED DOWN AND THE ACFT DOVE INTO THE GROUND. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1986_LAX86LA122.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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