NTSB Factual Report

On June 17, 1995, at 0852 hours Pacific daylight time, an amateur built Harmon Dolphin, N89JH, collided with rolling terrain about one mile west of the Paso Robles Municipal Airport, Paso Robles, California. The airplane was destroyed and the certificated private pilot received fatal injuries. The airplane was being operated as a personal flight by the pilot/owner when the accident occurred. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time.

The accident airplane was one of two aircraft that were flying together and planning to land at Paso Robles Municipal Airport. The weather at the airport was reported in part as a 600-foot ceiling with visibility 3 statute miles with fog. The pilot of the second airplane was in communications with the accident airplane. According to the pilot of the second airplane, the pilot of the accident airplane had descended into the top of the fog. The second airplane pilot asked the accident pilot where he was. The accident pilot stated, "I don't know where I am." There were no further radio transmissions heard from the accident pilot.

Witnesses reported hearing the experimental aircraft pilot communicate with another pilot on the ground on the common traffic advisory frequency. About 3 minutes before the accident, the experimental aircraft pilot indicated he was unable to find the airport due to the weather, after which no further communications were heard. The investigation revealed the radio transmissions heard on the ground from the experimental aircraft were from the second airplane pilot.

Pilot Information

The non-instrument rated pilot held a private pilot certificate which was issued on September 13, 1994, with single-engine land airplane rating. The most recent third-class medical certificate was issued to the pilot on June 27, 1994, and contained the limitation that correcting lenses for near vision must be available while exercising the privileges of his airman certificate.

No personal flight records were located for the pilot and the aeronautical experience listed in this report was estimated.

Wreckage and Impact Information

The airplane impacted in a dry rolling pasture. A postimpact fire erupted, burning part of the wreckage and some grass. The Safety Board did not conduct an on scene wreckage examination. The airplane wreckage was examined after it was recovered on June 21, 1995, at aircraft salvage facilities located in Santa Paula, California.

The propeller was separated from the engine. The crankshaft was fractured aft of the propeller flange. Both propeller blades were found loose in the hub. There was leading edge damage to both propeller blades, chordwise scoring and scratches, and slight forward bending.

The engine was exposed to the postimpact fire. There was no evidence found of preimpact failure or malfunction.

The outboard 4 feet of the left wing was found by recovery personnel about 150 feet from the fuselage. There was no evidence found on the left wing to indicate it was exposed to the postimpact fire. The wing spar caps consisted of seven laminated 1/8-inch bars of aluminum riveted together and to a sheet metal aluminum web. The spar caps are tapered as they extend outboard in the wing by decreasing the number of laminates.

The upper spar cap was examined and found delaminated at a bend in the cap slightly inboard of the wing separation point. The aluminum rivets that hold the laminates together were sheared with the pieces of aluminum rivets still in the rivet holes. The lower spar cap was fractured through the laminates with the laminates necked down at the breaks with a 45-degree fracture profile.

The upper and lower spar caps taper to two laminates in the area of the wing separation. The left wing outboard laminates were found separated from the web and curled upward and aft relative to the airplane longitudinal axis. The rivets that hold the spar cap to the web were found pulled out, leaving no structure to hold the outboard 4 feet of the left wing.

Medical and Pathological Information

A post mortem examination was conducted by the San Luis Obispo County Coroner's Office with specimens retained for toxicological examination. The results of the toxicological analysis were negative for routine drug and alcohol screens.

NTSB Probable Cause

THE PILOT'S DECISION CONTINUE VFR FLIGHT INTO INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS (IMC), LOSS OF AIRCRAFT CONTROL DUE TO SPATIAL DISORIENTATION, AND EXCEEDING THE DESIGN STRESS LIMITS OF THE AIRPLANE. THE WEATHER CONDITION WAS A RELATED FACTOR.