Skip to content

Atlas / NTSB / LAX92LA381

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event LAX92LA381

1992-09-12 CHICO, California, United States Airport · CIC Fatal 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N45DH

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

BEECH D55

Year of manufacture

1969 · 23 years old at event

Engine

CONT MOTOR IO 520 SERIES (285 hp)

Seats / Engines

6 seats · 2 engines

Last airworthiness date

19690428

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A57016

Registrant of record

MEDIC CHOPPERS LLC

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT MISJUDGED THE AEROBATIC MANEUVER RECOVERY ALTITUDE.

Factual narrative

THE CERTIFICATED AIRLINE TRANSPORT PILOT, THE SOLE OCCUPANT, WAS NEARING COMPLETION OF AN AEROBATICS DEMONSTRATION FLIGHT AT AN AIR SHOW. WITNESSES OBSERVED THE PILOT PERFORM A 'SPLIT S' MANEUVER, DURING WHICH TIME THE EXPERIMENTAL MICRO JET WAS ROLLED INVERTED TO A NOSE DOWN ATTITUDE. THE AIRPLANE DESCENDED FROM THE ENTRY PORTION OF THE MANEUVER IN A WINGS LEVEL DIVE TO ABOUT A 60 TO 70 DEGREE NOSE DOWN ATTITUDE UNTIL COLLIDING WITH THE GROUND. A VIDEO TAPE TAKEN BY A SPECTATOR SHOWS THAT THE AIRPLANE'S ATTITUDE DID NOT CHANGE PRIOR TO IMPACT. THERE WERE NO MECHANICAL MALFUNCTIONS FOUND. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1992_LAX92LA381.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.