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LAX88DVA04

1988-05-02 · MERCED, California, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport MCE

N127AS has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (DIAMOND AIRCRAFT DA20-C1, built 2022), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

THE PILOT WAS FLIGHT TESTING A NEW AIRPLANE THAT HE HAD CONSTRUCTED. HE HAD COMPLETED TWO TOUCH AND GO LANDINGS. DURING A THIRD APPROACH, WITNESSES OBSERVED THE AIRPLANE APPROACHING THE RUNWAY AT A VERY HIGH AIRSPEED. THE AIRPLANE TOUCHED DOWN ON THE RUNWAY AND PORPOISED. AFTER TOUCHING DOWN ON THE RUNWAY TWO MORE TIMES, THE AIRPLANE DOVE TO THE LEFT AND CRASHED IN A FIELD. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1988_LAX88DVA04.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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