Event SEA07LA196

Factual narrative

On July 15, 2007, at 0814 Pacific daylight time, a North American F-51D, N51TK, sustained substantial damage when it impacted terrain following a loss of control during a go around at the Camarillo Airport, Camarillo, California. The private pilot, the sole occupant, received fatal injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the solo instructional flight, and no flight plan was filed. The pilot was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The flight had originated from Camarillo Airport about 0808. According to information provided by Camarillo Air Traffic Control Tower personnel, the airplane, with the private pilot and a flight instructor on board, flew into the airport and made a full stop landing. The flight instructor exited the airplane after informing the tower that the pilot would be performing his first solo flight in the airplane. The airplane departed on runway 26, remained in the traffic pattern and returned for a landing on runway 26. Two controllers observed the airplane touch down and then become airborne again. At that point, it appeared to them that the pilot initiated a go around, and the airplane immediately rolled left and impacted the ground beside the runway in an inverted position. The flight instructor reported that he had given the pilot 31.5 hours of dual instruction in the airplane between May 29 and July 14, 2007. After completing the dual instructional flight on July 14, the instructor elected to allow the pilot to solo the airplane the following morning. About 0745 on the day of the accident, they departed Whiteman Airport, Los Angeles, California, in the airplane and proceeded to Camarillo. The pilot landed the airplane on runway 26 and taxied to the ramp adjacent to the run up area for 26. The instructor informed the ground controller that this would be the pilot's first supervised solo in the airplane. He instructed the pilot to perform one full stop landing and taxi back, and he exited the airplane. The instructor watched the pilot perform a "normal" takeoff followed by a left pattern to runway 26 with a "normal tail low wheel landing." He noted that as the airplane made contact with the ground, the pilot "had not pulled his throttle back to idle, as the noise level of the engine appeared greater than idle." After rolling 50 to 100 feet, the tail appeared to rise slightly, indicating the pilot was applying slight forward stick to pin the airplane to the ground. This was followed quickly by the rapid lowering of the tail to the point where the tail wheel struck the ground with a "loud bang noise." The airplane then "leaped back into the air" and the pilot applied take-off power. The airplane pitched nose high and rolled left to the inverted position. The upper surface of the left wing contacted the ground first, followed by the propeller and the canopy. The instructor expressed the opinion that the pilot "failed to successfully execute a standard go around procedure after experiencing unexpected flight due to the lowering of the tail prematurely with power still on after touchdown." The pilot, age 42, held a private pilot certificate with airplane single and multiengine land ratings and an instrument rating. According to FAA records, he had a total flight time of about 2,100 hours. An autopsy of the pilot was performed by the Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office. The cause of death was determined to be multiple blunt force injuries. Toxicology tests conducted by the FAA's Toxicology and Accident Research Laboratory were negative for carbon monoxide, cyanide and ethanol. Diphenhyrdamine was detected in blood at 0.121 ug/ml, and acetominophen was detected in urine at 59.39 ug/ml. The pilot was making his first supervised solo flight in the same airplane that he received 31.5 hours of dual instruction in the 47 days preceding the accident. The flight instructor who provided the training witnessed the accident and reported that the pilot performed a "normal" takeoff followed by a left pattern to runway 26 with a "normal tail low wheel landing." He noted that as the airplane made contact with the ground, the pilot "had not pulled his throttle back to idle, as the noise level of the engine appeared greater than idle." After rolling 50 to 100 feet, the tail appeared to rise slightly, indicating the pilot was applying slight forward stick to pin the airplane to the ground. This was followed quickly by the rapid lowering of the tail to the point where the tailwheel struck the ground with a "loud bang noise." The airplane then "leaped back into the air" and the pilot applied takeoff power. The airplane pitched nose high and rolled left to the inverted position consistent with a torque induced roll. The upper surface of the left wing contacted the ground first, followed by the propeller and the canopy. The instructor expressed the opinion that the pilot "failed to successfully execute a standard go-around procedure after experiencing unexpected flight due to the lowering of the tail prematurely with power still on after touchdown." Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12