LAX02LA275 · Huene Velocity XL-RG
Huene Velocity XL-RG · Accident: total loss of engine power (mechanical failure) en route
From Apple Valley Airport (KAPV) to Q60 · Fresno, CA
Event
- NTSB case
- LAX02LA275
- 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
- Unknown
- 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
Huene Velocity XL-RG
- Aircraft type
- Huene VELOCITY XL-RG
- 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
- N394BL
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Apple Valley Airport (KAPV), Apple Valley, CATo Q60 · Fresno, 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
- Total loss of engine power (mechanical failure)
- 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
- Exhaust system, stack › Separation
Approximate · Coordinates from the NTSB case API, which marks them as estimated or does not say; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
The pilot reported that while descending in preparation for landing, he noticed an unusual sound from the engine and noted a loss of oil pressure, followed by a loud thud, a vibration, and a total loss of engine power. A forced landing was made to an open field. After the aircraft came to a stop and the pilot and passenger exited the aircraft, smoke and fire was noted coming from the engine area. Attempts to extinguish the fire were unsuccessful. The aircraft was consumed by the fire and destroyed. A witness reported observing the aircraft fly over his location when he heard a loud bang and debris was seen falling from the aircraft. Later, two propeller blades and the lower engine cowl were located in fields near the witnesses location. Examination of the cowling revealed heat distress near the right side, starting at the opening for the exhaust stack and emenating aft. An unusual amount of oil was noted on the inside of the cowling and a thin coat of oil was noted on the outside. The two propeller blades were also coated with a thin layer of oil. During the engine examination, it was found that the exhaust system was cracked at the welds at both exhaust outlets with the left side exhaust outlet missing just aft of the number six cylinder riser. Further inspection of the exhaust riser identified two additional cracks. No other mechanical failures or malfunctions were noted during the engine examination.
Probable cause
An in-flight exhaust stack separation during descent for landing resulting in loss of engine power and a forced landing to an open field.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record LAX02LA275
- Event ID
- 20020916X01616
- Case number
- LAX02LA275
- 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, coordinates. 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: dd74fd6c5c375c7e5e984abdd9e1f7c1fcb87bb8f39fce1bb381dc9d377c55c2; retrieved 2026-09-22T10:20:06.928Z.