Extra Flugzeugbau EA-300 accident near Castaic, California, October 26, 1997
On October 26, 1997, a Extra Flugzeugbau EA-300, registered N69BW, was destroyed in an accident near Castaic, California. It was an instructional flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). 2 people were killed. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's failure to maintain control of the aircraft during an aerobatic maneuver.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- October 26, 1997
- Place
- Castaic, California
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 2 people were killed.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Extra Flugzeugbau EA-300 · all EA-300s on the register
- Registration
- N69BW · registry record · serial 043
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Instructional flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The pilot held a low altitude aerobatic waiver issued by the FAA and was demonstrating the aircraft to the second pilot. The accident site is in a designated aerobatic practice area, which has a floor of 1,500 feet agl. Radar data showed returns from a VFR aircraft maneuvering between 1,900 and 3,400 feet agl near the location and time of the accident. The minimum altitude of radar coverage in the area is approximately 2,100 feet agl. Two witnesses thought they were observing a radio controlled model aircraft from their car. The aerobatic aircraft performed a loop and then pulled up into vertical flight. The aircraft stopped pointing straight up, the nose dropped, and then the aircraft entered a nose down, right-hand spiral that continued for 8 to 20 seconds until the aircraft disappeared from sight behind an orchard. One witness reported that the aircraft was 'not up where planes normally fly, it was lower.' The aircraft impacted a dirt road in near vertical, nose down attitude with no evidence of rotation. An aerobatic maneuver sequence card was found in the wreckage; the first three maneuvers were a loop, followed by a hammerhead turn, and then an Immelman. Extensive reconstruction of the aircraft showed no evidence of preimpact failure of the aircraft or flight control system.
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: flight instructor, commercial pilot, private
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: airplane multi-engine; instructor: airplane single-engine; instructor: instrument airplane; instrument: airplane; rotorcraft: helicopter
- Flight time: 20,000 hours in all; 300 in this make and model; 200 in the last 90 days; 80 in the last 30 days; 13,000 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: frt
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 383 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, February 21, 1997; 118 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 2,094 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming AEIO-540-L1B5 (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: VNY Van Nuys CA at 11:00 pm
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 0
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 060° at 20 knots
- Visibility: 40 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 81°F (27°C), dew point 19°F (-7°C)
- Altimeter: 29.00 inHg
- Observation at 11:50 pm from CMA, 24 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 2 |
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.
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.