Airport security video captured the experimental Banty airplane as it departed to the west from the ultralight runway at Camarillo Airport (KCMA) in California.
The plane became airborne and began an immediate climbing left turn. It climbed to about treetop level, with an increase in bank angle to greater than 60° as the airplane completed about 90° of turn. The airplane then descended from view behind trees. The wreckage came to rest inverted on top of an airport hangar.
The pilot, who held the repairman certificate for the aircraft and was the only person authorized to sign off maintenance, told an FAA inspector he was asked to fly the airplane and troubleshoot repair work to the flaps.
However, he could not produce a record showing what work had been done or by whom.
When asked specifically if he was performing a test flight on the airplane, he said he could not recall why he was there and he did not know what happened during the flight. The pilot also stated he had not flown this model airplane “for many years.”
A witness to the accident, who was familiar with the airplane, said he spoke to the pilot following the accident and the pilot told him he “perceived the runway was too small,” and turned to the left after takeoff and stalled the airplane. The pilot also told him that there was nothing wrong with the airplane.
The witness also assisted in the relocation of the wreckage and stated he did not observe anything unusual or abnormal with the airplane.
The FAA inspector who responded to the accident found no airworthiness issues.
A review of the pilot’s most recent logbook did not reveal any entries for flights in the accident airplane make and model between the first logbook entry in April 2020 and the date of the accident. No airplane maintenance logbooks were recovered during the investigation.
Probable Cause: The pilot’s failure to maintain proper airspeed and his exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall.
To download the final report. Click here. This will trigger a PDF download to your device.
This August 2022 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
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