NTSB CAROL · Event
Event LAX96LA258
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
the owner/builder/pilot's impairment of judgment and performance due to drugs which led to his improper handling of the airplane and failure to maintain an adequate airspeed margin above stall speed, resulting in an inadvertent stall/spin. A factor which contributed to the accident was the owner/builder/pilot's use of an inadequate adhesive material in the construction of the airplane which resulted in a portion of the wing root surface skin to debond, separate, and impact a propeller blade, which also separated.
Factual narrative
HISTORY OF FLIGHT
On July 2, 1996, at 0855 hours Pacific daylight time, a Davis Challenger I CW, N75489, owned and operated by the pilot, crashed during its maiden flight at the Paso Robles Municipal Airport, Paso Robles, California. The experimental amateur built airplane was destroyed, and the private pilot was fatally injured during the personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The flight was originating at the time of the accident. A witness reported observing the airplane's takeoff and crash. The witness stated that the takeoff roll appeared normal, but seconds after the airplane lifted off the runway, around 100 feet above ground level, a light colored small component separated from the upper surface of a wing and contacted the pusher wood propeller. One blade separated, the engine stopped operating, and the airplane porpoised up and down several times. Then, the airplane turned 90 degrees from its runway heading, pitched nose down, and impacted the ground while in a 45-degree nose down attitude. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) coordinator performed an on-scene examination of the crash site. According to the FAA, a bent plastic (Lexan) strip was located about 300 feet downwind of the main wreckage and in close proximity to the separated propeller blade. An examination of the wreckage revealed that the strip had been attached to the upper surface of the wing's center section with Velcro self-adhesive tape. The adhesive material had failed to secure the strip to the wing. The Lexan strip was rectangular in shape, and was designed to cover a gap in the fuselage forward of the engine assembly. The pilot purchased the homebuilt kit in November, 1995. Construction was completed the week preceding the accident flight. The pilot reportedly had performed taxi tests for about 1.5 hours preceding his first attempted takeoff.
PERSONNEL INFORMATION
According to the FAA, when the pilot last applied for an aviation medical certificate on November 29, 1994, he reported that his total flying experience was about 185 hours, and he had flown 5 hours during the preceding 6-month period. The FAA did not issue the pilot the requested certificate because of his cardiovascular condition.
MEDICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL INFORMATION
On July 5, 1996, an autopsy on the pilot was performed by the San Luis Obispo County Coroner's Office, San Luis Obispo, California. The FAA performed toxicology tests on specimens from the pilot, and found evidence of drugs including chlordiazepoxide, diazepam, amitriptyline, atenolol and diltiazem in blood and liver fluid. No ethanol was detected. According to the manager of the FAA's toxicology and accident research laboratory, these drugs may be prescribed for conditions including depression and hypertension. In brief, use of these drugs could adversely influence the pilot's mental processes, reaction time, and ability to control the airplane. The accident occurred during the pilot's maiden flight of the homebuilt following completion of construction the preceding week. According to a witness, the pilot took off and climbed 100 feet above the runway surface. During the climb, an airframe component separated from the wing and contacted the wood pusher propeller. A blade separated and all engine power was lost. The airplane then porpoised several times, turned 90 degrees from its runway heading, and collided with the ground in a 45-degree nose-down pitch attitude. A bent plastic (Lexan) strip was found about 300 feet downwind of the main wreckage and in close proximity to the separated propeller blade. The strip had been attached to the center section of the wing, forward of the engine, with Velcro self-adhesive tape. The adhesive remained attached to the wing, but it failed to adhere to the Lexan. In November, 1994, the FAA denied the pilot's last application for an aviation medical certificate because of his cardiovascular condition. Toxicology tests on the pilot revealed the presence of tranquilizers chlordiazepoxide (Librium) and diazepam (Valium), and the antidepressant amitriptyline (Elavil). Use of these drugs could adversely influence the pilot's mental processes, reaction time, and ability to control the airplane. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1996_LAX96LA258.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (stall). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- NASA NTRS 2026 · Conference Paper
Computational Analysis of Steady State Aerodynamics of Transonic Truss-Braced Wing Configuration in Deep Stall
This study presents a computational investigation of steady state aerodynamics of the Subsonic Ultra-Green Aircraft Research (SUGAR) Transonic Truss-Braced Wing (TTBW) configuration over a wide range …
- arXiv 2023 · arXiv preprint
Automating Bird Diverter Installation through Multi-Aerial Robots and Signal Temporal Logic Specifications
This paper tackles the task assignment and trajectory generation problem for bird diverter installation using a fleet of multi-rotors.
- arXiv 2023 · arXiv preprint
Variation of Critical Crystallization Pressure for the Formation of Square Ice in Graphene Nanocapillaries
Two-dimensional square ice in graphene nanocapillaries at room temperature is a fascinating phenomenon and has been confirmed experimentally.
- arXiv 2023 · arXiv preprint
Polycrystallinity enhances stress build-up around ice
Damage caused by freezing wet, porous materials is a widespread problem, but is hard to predict or control. Here, we show that polycrystallinity makes a great difference to the stress build-up process…
- arXiv 2022 · arXiv preprint
Enhanced Prediction of Three-dimensional Finite Iced Wing Separated Flow Near Stall
Icing on three-dimensional wings causes severe flow separation near stall. Standard improved delayed detached eddy simulation (IDDES) is unable to correctly predict the separating reattaching flow due…
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2021 · Journal article (JAAER)
Analysis on the Negative Emotional, Physiological, and Cognitive Responses Elicited from of the Activation of a Stall Alarm
Failing to identify an aerodynamic stall can lead to the inability of an aircraft to sustain flight. To warn pilots of an impending or fully-developed stall, many aircraft have safety devices installe…
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