Amateur-built BERKUT accident near Santa Paula, California, August 12, 1995
On August 12, 1995 at about 10:10 pm local time, a amateur-built BERKUT, registered N91DR, was destroyed in an accident near Santa Paula, California (Santa Paula airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under general aviation rules (Part 91). 1 person was killed. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
the pilot's inadvertent entry into an accelerated stall in a maximum performance high-g turn at an altitude insufficient to recover aircraft control prior to colliding with the ground.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- August 12, 1995 · about 10:10 pm local time
- Place
- Santa Paula, California · Santa Paula · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was killed.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built BERKUT
- Registration
- N91DR · registry record · serial 0001
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The pilot was doing a demonstration air show routine, one that he had performed in this aircraft for over 2 years. Near the end of the performance, the pilot entered his standard 8g minimum radius knife edge turn about 200 feet agl. The accident sequence was videotaped by a spectator. About 270 degrees into the turn, the aircraft burbled, or rocked the wings slightly. The videotape showed the aircraft increase the angle of attack just before the burble was observed. Following the burble, the left wing dropped and the aircraft rolled left 270 degrees to a near wings level flight attitude. The aircraft then descended in a nose-up pitch attitude behind a tree line and impacted the ground. The aircraft designer stated that the wing plan form is a modified delta similar to the Vari-EZ/Long-EZ designs, which incorporates a forward canard for pitch control. The pilot sits in a high g-tolerant reclined position. During flight test, no main wing stall has been induced due to g-loads imposed on the aircraft. FAA inspectors examined the aircraft twice and found no discrepancies. Air show pilots who performed just before the accident pilot said that the airmass was smooth with no unusual turbulence or other meteorological phenomena noted.
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
What happened, in order
- LOSS OF CONTROL - IN FLIGHT during maneuvering
- IN FLIGHT COLLISION WITH TERRAIN/WATER during descent - uncontrolled
Pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land, single-engine land, none, APLN, none
- Flight time: 6,150 hours in all; 300 in this make and model
- Medical certificate: class 2
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 1,327 hours
- Last inspection: type not recorded, July 7, 1995; 35 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 2,000 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Lycoming IO-360-B1B (piston); 0 hours total
- Operator: Experimental Aviation, INC.
- Operating certificate: in the vicinity
The flight
- Departed from: SZP at 10:00 pm
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 320° at 9 knots
- Visibility: 20 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 72°C, dew point 57°C
- Altimeter: 29 inHg
- Observation at 9:46 pm from CMA, 12 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The docket at the NTSB holds the report as a PDF and the investigation's photographs and documents. This site never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number LAX95LA289.