Amateur-built RV-4 accident near Scio, Oregon, October 26, 1997
On October 26, 1997 at about 11:50 pm local time, a amateur-built RV-4, registered N160HB, was destroyed in an accident near Scio, Oregon. 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-in-command's loss of control of the aircraft for undetermined reasons.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- October 26, 1997 · about 11:50 pm local time
- Place
- Scio, Oregon · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was killed.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built RV-4
- Registration
- N160HB · no longer on the register · serial 554
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The private pilot, whose third class medical had expired in August 1995, departed in an RV-4 experimental aircraft approximately 1530, and was observed by another pilot flying a Cessna 170 near the crash site about 20 minutes later. The eyewitness pilot 'noticed an RV aircraft coming up on my left side. I wagged my wings and he wagged his wings back. He then proceeded to pass me on my left, when he was approximately at my 11 o'clock (position), he executed a roll to the left. At the inverted stage of the roll the aircraft dove straight into the ground' (from an elevation of approximately 750 AGL). An FAA inspector examined the wreckage and reported that a control system check revealed no evidence of mechanical disconnect or malfunction. A deputy from the Linn County Sheriff's Office, who interviewed the pilot's wife, reported that she had told him that 'her husband has been have(ing) real bad migraine headaches that would leave him incapacitated.' She also told the deputy that 'he would blackout, and get tunnel vision' and that 'sometimes they (the migraines) would get so bad, he could not talk.'
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: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 1,402 hours in all
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (expired)
- Seat: frt
The aircraft
- Last inspection: inspection type not recorded
- Maximum gross weight: 1,500 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Mazda GLIR-160 (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: 5OR8 Stayton OR at 11:30 pm
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 190° at 6 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: overcast at 5,500 ft; not recorded
- Temperature: 54°F (12°C), dew point 46°F (8°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 11:56 pm from SLE, 13 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.