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LAX88DUM01

1987-11-01 · RAMONA, California, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport L39

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

ACQUAINTANCES OF THE PLT RPRTD HE HAD PERFORMED MAINTENANCE TO REPAIR AN INOPERATIVE AIRSPEED INDICATOR. HE THEN TOOK OFF ON A TEST FLT. A WITNESS, WHO WAS A PLT, RPRTD THE ENG STARTED TO 'CUT OUT' AT ABOUT 200 TO 300 FT AGL, THE TAIL 'WAGGLED A COUPLE OF TIMES' & THEN THE ACFT ENTERED A SPIN & CRASHED IN A NOSE DOWN ATTITUDE. TWO OTHER WITNESSES RPRTD THERE WAS AN INTERRUPTION OF POWER BEFORE THE ACFT CRASHED. HOWEVER, THE ENG & FORWARD PART OF THE FUSELAGE WERE BADLY DAMAGED & NO REASON WAS FOUND FOR A POWER LOSS. AN EXAM OF THE AIRSPEED INDICATOR REVEALED IT HAD RUPTURED & HAD BEEN EPOXIED, BUT THE RUPTURE CONTINUED BEYOND THE EPOXY. THE PLT HAD A STUDENT CERTIFICATE. HE HAD 332 HRS OF FLT TIME IN ULTRALIGHTS, BUT HAD LOGGED ONLY 3 HRS OF DUAL FLT TIME IN POWERED ACFT & HAD ONLY 2.3 HRS IN THIS MAKE & MODEL. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1987_LAX88DUM01.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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