WPR10LA276 · Czech Aircraft Works Sportcruiser
Czech Aircraft Works Sportcruiser · Accident: collision with terrain/object (non-CFIT) on approach
From Gillespie Field (SEE) to Ramona Airport (RNM)
Event
- NTSB case
- WPR10LA276
- 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
Czech Aircraft Works Sportcruiser
- Aircraft type
- Czech Aircraft Works SPORTCRUISER
- 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
- N334BB
- Operator
- Sport Flyers
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Gillespie Field (SEE), San Diego, CATo Ramona Airport (RNM), Ramona, 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
- Approach · VFR pattern final
- Defining eventThe 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
- Collision with terrain/object (non-CFIT)
- 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
- Wire
- 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
- Aircraft › Aircraft structures
- Personnel issues › Task performance
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
The pilot reported that the airplane was about 50 feet above ground level during the takeoff climb when the right side of the canopy opened about 4 to 6 inches. As he reached to lower it, the left side of the canopy opened. The canopy was moving up and down erratically as the pilot attempted to stabilize it, and the airplane began pitch oscillations. The pilot notified the air traffic control tower controller that the canopy was open and that he needed to return for landing immediately. As the pilot turned onto the downwind leg of the traffic pattern, the pitch oscillations became increasingly erratic. The airplane lost altitude and subsequently collided with power lines, which pitched the airplane upside down into the street below.
Postaccident examination of the canopy noted that it was hinged in front of the cockpit and rotated forward when open. Examination of the latch mechanism revealed no mechanical anomalies.
The pilot reported that he followed the takeoff checklist and ensured that the canopy was closed and locked by pushing up on it, although this instruction was not in the pilot operating handbook (POH). Further examination of the POH noted a lack of guidance for verifying that the canopy was locked or for operating the airplane when the canopy inadvertently opened. It is likely that during the preflight, the canopy latches could have been partially engaged such that the pilot felt enough resistance to believe that the canopy was locked. The vibration encountered during the takeoff roll and the aerodynamic flow over the canopy at liftoff may have caused the canopy to become loose and open. After the accident, the manufacturer issued guidance indicating that if the canopy opened in flight, it would raise about 2 to 3.2 inches, but the airplane should remain fully controllable.
Probable cause
The inadvertent opening of the aircraft canopy during the takeoff climb, which distracted the pilot and resulted in his failure to maintain aircraft control. Contributing to the accident was a lack of guidance in the manufacturer's pilot operating handbook addressing an open canopy during flight.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record WPR10LA276
- Event ID
- 20100602X35725
- Case number
- WPR10LA276
- Dataset
- full-current
- Source SHA-256
- 5cf380f0061817c0331a6b2d8cc7e0ee3a79bea469a1001dc5c10e56f35f5ab3
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: d7d8e87225c3dccf895a66fe67672d3ce51f29c34eb8d15788db4075266a32da; retrieved 2026-09-15T14:19:40.041Z.