Amateur-built LANCAIR 320 accident near Bend, Oregon, August 31, 2000
On August 31, 2000 at about 11:10 pm local time, a amateur-built LANCAIR 320, registered N6BQ, was substantially damaged in an accident near Bend, Oregon (Bend Muni airport). It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved. The weather was conditions the NTSB did not record.
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's failure to take adequate remedial action upon encountering aircraft control difficulties during landing. Factors included gusty wind conditions and the pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control during landing.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- August 31, 2000 · about 11:10 pm local time
- Place
- Bend, Oregon · Bend Muni · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- conditions the NTSB did not record
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built LANCAIR 320 LANCAIR 32
- Registration
- N6BQ · registry record · serial 348320575P
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The pilot stated that after the airplane landed, 'the wind picked the plane back up into the air far enough that I added some power so that we would not stall.' The pilot reported that the airplane 'may have bounced once again', but that in any event he decided to go around at this point and added power. However, he stated, 'the plane was very difficult to control and the plane was no longer over the runway, but off to the left side.' The pilot stated that the airplane's propeller then struck the ground, and that the airplane then slid 50 to 100 feet and its landing gear collapsed. The pilot reported that no mechanical malfunction or failure was involved. Reported winds at Redmond, Oregon, about 9 nautical miles north of the accident site, changed from out of 330 degrees at 16 knots at 1556 to out of 350 degrees at 16 knots, gusting to 23 knots, at 1656.
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; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 485 hours in all; 252 in this make and model; 51 in the last 90 days; 10 in the last 30 days; 396 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Unknown
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 252 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, February 12, 2000; 93 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 1,700 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Lycoming O-320-D (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: HJO Hanford CA at 8:15 pm
- Destination: S07
- Flight plan: VFR
- Runway 34, 4,795 ft by 75 ft
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 312° at 16 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 70°F (21°C), dew point 39°F (4°C)
- Altimeter: 29.00 inHg
- Observation at 10:56 pm from RDM, 9 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.