Amateur-built LOMBARD DILLEY-68 accident near Sun Valley, Nevada, September 17, 1983
On September 17, 1983 at about 6:15 pm local time, a amateur-built LOMBARD DILLEY-68, registered N301LS, was destroyed in an accident near Sun Valley, Nevada (Reno-Stead airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under general aviation rules (Part 91). 1 person had minor injuries. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The NTSB has not yet published a probable cause for this accident. Investigations usually take one to two years; this page updates when the final report is released.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- September 17, 1983 · about 6:15 pm local time
- Place
- Sun Valley, Nevada · Reno-Stead
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person had minor injuries.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built LOMBARD DILLEY-68 LOMBARD DI
- Registration
- N301LS · no longer on the register · serial 1
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
THE PLT WAS ONE OF SEVERAL COMPETING IN A PYLON AIR RACE DURING THE RENO NATIONAL AIR RACES. THE ACFT WERE APPROACHING THE FIRST PYLON IN A STEEP LEFT BANK. ACCORDING TO THE PLT, ANOTHER ACFT PULLED IN FRONT OF HIM, & WHILE ATTEMPTING TO AVOID A COLLISION AT ABOUT 200 MPH, & WITH ONLY 35 FT OF ALTITUDE, THE ACFT STALLED & CRASHED.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot, flight instructor
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; single-engine sea; instructor: airplane single-engine; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 1,944 hours in all; 250 in this make and model; 20 in the last 90 days; 1,703 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: ctr
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 26 hours
- Last inspection: inspection type not recorded, September 11, 1983; 5 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 1,297 lb
- Seats: 1
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming IO-320-A2B (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 240° at 20 knots
- Visibility: 40 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 81°F (27°C), dew point 45°F (7°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 5:53 pm from RNO, 12 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Other NTSB records under N301LS the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.