LAX92LA252 · Beech B-35
Beech B-35 · Accident: airframe, component or system failure en route
From Paso Robles Municipal Airport (PRB) to Whiteman Airport (WHP)
Event
- NTSB case
- LAX92LA252
- 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
Beech B-35
- Aircraft type
- Beechcraft B-35
- 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
- N8838A
- Operator
- Mager, Stuart · private individual
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Paso Robles Municipal Airport (PRB), Paso Robles, CATo Whiteman Airport (WHP), PACOIMA, CA
- 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
- En route · descent
- 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
- Airframe, component or system failure
- 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
- Flight control, ruddervator › Flutter
- Unknown › Maintenance, balancing, improper
Not plotted · Location withheld: coordinates are missing, conflicting, invalid, or have no accepted acquisition method. No substitute location has been invented.
NTSB narrative
DURING A CROSS COUNTRY FLIGHT, THE OWNER/PILOT AND AN INSTRUCTOR PILOT WERE DESCENDING THROUGH A HOLE IN AN OVERCAST AT 135 KNOTS. THE V-TAIL DESIGNED AIRPLANE SUDDENLY EXPERIENCED 4 VIOLENT PITCH OSCILLATIONS. THE INSTRUCTOR PILOT, WHO WAS FLYING THE AIRPLANE, REDUCED AIRSPEED AND LEVELED THE WINGS. THIS ACTION STOPPED THE PITCH OSCILLATIONS. A POST FLIGHT INSPECTION REVEALED DAMAGE TO THE REAR FUSELAGE BULKHEAD, WRINKLING OF THE EMPENNAGE SKIN AND LOSS OF PAINT. THE AIRPLANE DID NOT HAVE ANY PLACARDED AIRSPEED RESTRICTIONS OR A VERIFICATION OF PROPER WEIGHT AND BALANCE CALCULATIONS. THE OWNER DID NOT PROVIDE ANY DOCUMENTATION OF COMPLIANCE WITH THE AD, OR OF PROPER BALANCING OF THE LEFT RUDDERVATOR THAT HAD BEEN PREVIOUSLY EXCHANGED AND INSTALLED. THE MANUFACTURER REPORTED THAT THE EMPENNAGE DAMAGE WAS TYPICAL OF RUDDERVATOR FLUTTER.
Probable cause
IMPROPER RUDDERVATOR BALANCING THAT RESULTED IN RUDDERVATOR FLUTTER. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE INFORMATION TO ASSURE THAT AD COMPLIANCE AND ELEVATOR BALANCING WAS PERFORMED, AND AN INADEQUATE ANNUAL INSPECTION PROCEDURE THAT ASSURED PROPER MAINTENANCE COMPLIANCE.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record LAX92LA252
- Event ID
- 20001211X14330
- Case number
- LAX92LA252
- 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: f21ef7651ab6c83087368321923b86e5a2791a119010c94d4f2352180304895b; retrieved 2026-09-23T03:16:57.964Z.