NTSB Factual Report

On April 6, 1996, at 0814 hours Pacific standard time, an amateur built Twibell Tangent 65, N4309M, collided with the terrain at Rabbit Springs Dry Lake, Lucerne Valley, California. The pilot was conducting a local visual flight rules personal flight. The airplane, owned and operated by the pilot, was destroyed. The certificated private pilot, the sole occupant, sustained fatal injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated at Apple Valley Airport, Apple Valley, California, at an undetermined time.

An FAA inspector from the Riverside [California] Flight Standards District Office conducted the on-scene investigation. The inspector reported that the pilot flew to the accident area behind his friend who was flying another airplane. Both airplanes executed a touch-and-go landing and takeoff on the dry lake.

A ground witness told the inspector that the first airplane continued on the upwind leg and the accident pilot began to fly around the windsock about 80 feet above the ground. The airplane's bank angle began to steepen as the pilot continued the turn. As the bank angle steepened, the airplane began to lose altitude until the left wing struck the river bed. The airplane then cartwheeled and came to rest, inverted, about 30 feet from the initial point of impact.

The FAA inspector said that the wreckage examination disclosed no evidence of any preimpact malfunctions or failures.

The pilot of the other airplane told a San Bernardino Sheriff's Department deputy that he and the other pilot were flying to Yucca Valley, California, in their individual airplanes. He said that during the flight he made a low pass over the dry lake in a southerly heading. He heard the other pilot transmit over the radio that he was 2 miles behind him. The pilot of the other airplane said that he began a left turn to intercept the accident pilot. He saw the accident pilot's airplane below and in front of his airplane. Moments later, the accident pilot's airplane nose dropped and then he saw a cloud of dust.

The San Bernardino County Coroner's Office performed the post mortem and toxicological examinations on the pilot. The toxicological examinations were negative for alcohol or drugs.

NTSB Probable Cause

the pilot's failure to maintain altitude. Factors in the accident were: the pilot's decision to buzz the area and his ostentatious display.