LAX89DUG02 · Mason AJM-1
Mason AJM-1 · Accident: loss of control in flight en route
From L39 · Ramona, CA to Lake Tahoe Airport (TVL)
Event
- NTSB case
- LAX89DUG02
- 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
- 1 · 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
Mason AJM-1
- Aircraft type
- Mason AJM-1
- 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
- N87AJ
- Operator
- Richard E. Mckim · private individual
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From L39 · Ramona, CATo Lake Tahoe Airport (TVL), LAKE TAHOE, 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 · cruise
- 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
- Loss of control in flight
- Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
- Stall/spin
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Destroyed
Cause areas
- Pilot in command › Stall/spin, intentional
Not plotted · Location withheld: coordinates are missing, conflicting, invalid, or have no accepted acquisition method. No substitute location has been invented.
NTSB narrative
THE PILOT RADIOED HE HAD CONTROL DIFFICULTIES WITH HIS AIRCRAFT AND DECLINED ASSISTANCE TO LAND AT NEARBY AIRPORTS. WITNESSES DESCRIBED THE AIRCRAFT AS SPINNING INTO THE GROUND FROM A VERY HIGH ALTITUDE. A VIDEO TAPE OF THE FLIGHT (FROM THE COCKPIT) INDICATED NO MECHANICAL DIFFICULTIES WITH THE AIRCRAFT DURING THE TIME THE PILOT REPORTED HAVING DIFFICULTIES. THE WEATHER CONDITIONS WERE CLEAR. THE PILOT DELIBERATELY TURNED OFF THE VIDEO CAMERA PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT. THE PILOT HAD JUST PURCHASED THIS AIRCRAFT. THIS WAS HIS FIRST FLIGHT AND HAD REFUSED THE OFFER OF INSTRUCTION FROM THE AIRCRAFT OWNER/BUILDER. THE CORONER HAS RULED THE ACCIDENT AS A SUICIDE. THE PILOT HAD JUST UNDERGONE MAJOR SURGERY AND WAS TAKING THE PRESCRIBED DRUG COUMADIN. ACCORDING TO THE FAA, THE USE OF THIS DRUG WOULD HAVE PRECLUDED THE USE OF HIS AEROMEDICAL CERTIFICATE.
Probable cause
THE PILOT'S INTENTIONAL DESCENT INTO THE TERRAIN. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS TO THE ACCIDENT WERE THE PILOT'S PHYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEMS AND HIS LACK OF EXPERIENCE IN THIS AIRCRAFT.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record LAX89DUG02
- Event ID
- 20001213X27592
- Case number
- LAX89DUG02
- 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: 6d823e8a4a0f6d57faae3a662815abc10a42c90fd9d883b4b06df65322e864cc; retrieved 2026-09-21T03:25:20.451Z.