Amateur-built Pazmany PL-4 accident near Fredricksburg, Virginia, October 15, 2006
On October 15, 2006 at about 10:00 pm local time, a amateur-built Pazmany PL-4, registered N640F, was substantially damaged in an accident near Fredricksburg, Virginia (Shannon Airport). It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). 1 person was killed. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's intentional low altitude maneuvering, which resulted in an inadvertent collision with terrain.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- October 15, 2006 · about 10:00 pm local time
- Place
- Fredricksburg, Virginia · Shannon Airport · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was killed.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built Pazmany PL-4
- Registration
- N640F · no longer on the register · serial 433
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
Witnesses observed the accident airplane as it operated in the airport traffic pattern. While performing "touch-and-go" landings, the pilot landed the airplane near the approach end of the runway, and then took off again. The airplane then accelerated while flying at a low altitude over the runway. Near the end of the runway the airplane pitched up, climbed, leveled at 500 feet, and repeated the maneuver. During a subsequent pass, the airplane approached the runway low and fast. At the departure end of the runway the airplane pitched up into a near-vertical climb, before it "stopped in the air for a moment," and yawed left until the nose was pointing straight toward the ground. The airplane descended vertically and subsequently impacted the ground in a nose-down attitude. Examination of the wreckage did not reveal any evidence consistent with a preimpact mechanical failure or malfunction. The airplane's experimental operating limitations stated, "This aircraft is prohibited from acrobatic flight; that is, an intentional maneuver involving an abrupt change in the aircraft's attitude, an abnormal attitude, or abnormal acceleration not necessary for normal flight."
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: private
- Ratings: single-engine land
- Flight time: 281 hours in all; 74 in this make and model; 4 in the last 30 days
- Last flight review: May 1, 2005
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (without waivers/limitations)
- Seat: sngl
- Injury: fatal
The aircraft
- Last inspection: inspection type not recorded
- Maximum gross weight: 850 lb
- Seats: 1
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Continental C-75 (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: EZF Fredricksburg VA
- Destination: EZF
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 24, 2,910 ft by 100 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 63°F (17°C), dew point 34°F (1°C)
- Altimeter: 30.07 inHg
- Observation at 10:00 pm from EZF, 5 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.
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.