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LAX93LA331 · Ultimate 10-80

21 Aug 1993 · Chandler, AZ, United States

Ultimate 10-80 and R. J. McNaul BEAVER RX-550 BEAVER R · Accident: in flight collision with object on approach

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Event

NTSB case
LAX93LA331
Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
Completed
API-reported fatalities
0 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
0
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
General aviation
WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
Visual Meteorological Cond

Aircraft 1 · Ultimate 10-80

Aircraft type
Ultimate 10
Category
Airplane
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
N51677
Operator
Unknown
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From not recordedTo not recorded
Aircraft age
Not recorded
Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
Part 91: General Aviation
Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
Approach · VFR pattern final
First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
In flight collision with object
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Minor

Aircraft 2 · R. J. McNaul BEAVER RX-550 BEAVER R

Category
Ultralight
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
N38RJ
Operator
Unknown
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From not recordedTo not recorded
Aircraft age
Not recorded
Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
Part 91: General Aviation
Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
Takeoff · roll/run
First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
On ground/water collision with object
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Substantial

Cause areas

  • Pilot in command › VFR procedures, not followed
  • Pilot in command › Visual lookout, poor
  • Pilot of other aircraft › VFR procedures, not followed
  • Pilot of other aircraft › Visual lookout, poor

Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.

NTSB narrative

THE AMATEUR BUILT EXPERIMENTAL AIRPLANE PILOT ANNOUNCED HIS POSITION AS HE ENTERED THE TRAFFIC PATTERN. WHEN ON THE DOWNWIND LEG, THE PILOT OBSERVED A REGISTERED ULTRALIGHT AIRPLANE TAXIING TOWARD THE RUNWAY. AS THE EXPERIMENTAL AIRPLANE TURNED ONTO THE FINAL APPROACH, THE PILOT OBSERVED THE ULTRALIGHT STOP AT THE RUNWAY THRESHOLD. THE EXPERIMENTAL PILOT WAS REQUIRED TO FLY THE FINAL APPROACH AT A SLOW AIRPEED WITH A HIGH ANGLE OF ATTACK AND A HIGH RATE OF DESCENT IN ORDER TO CLEAR THE WIRES THAT CROSSED THE FINAL APPROACH COURSE. WHEN THE EXPERIMENTAL AIRPLANE WAS NEARING THE RUNWAY THRESHOLD, THE NONCERTIFICATED PILOT FLYING THE REGISTERED ULTRALIGHT AIRPLANE ENTERED ONTO THE RUNWAY AND WAS STRUCK BY THE LANDING AIRPLANE.

Probable cause

the noncertificated pilot's failure to follow the prescribed vfr procedures and poor visual lookout. The other aircraft pilot's restricted visual lookout was a factor in this accident.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record LAX93LA331
Event ID
20001211X13182
Case number
LAX93LA331
Dataset
historical-pre2008
Source SHA-256
89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
  • Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
  • Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
  • The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: ddefe331d329a3ae0d79c807ccb130c6fb463fe7eda2d5112ba29e4a8f737438; retrieved 2026-09-21T14:10:15.085Z.