Probable cause
The partial loss of engine power for undetermined reasons, and the pilot's failure to maintain an adequate airspeed, which resulted in an inadvertent stall/spin.
NTSB analysis
Witnesses reported hearing the accident airplane's engine sputter during the takeoff climb. The airplane's nose appeared to pitch down, level, then witnesses heard a high pitch revving sound emanating from the engine. The airplane rocked back-and-forth, the left wing dropped, and it entered a nose dive before impacting the ground. A postaccident inspection of the accident site revealed the airplane impacted the ground in a nose down attitude, with the propeller assembly separating from the crankshaft and becoming embedded in the hard desert dirt. An examination of the airplane and engine revealed no mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for WPR09LA308 for the full record.
Event
- Date
- Jun 23, 2009
- Type
- Accident
- Place
- Cottonwood, Arizona
- Nearest airport
- Cottonwood Airport (P52)
- Highest injury
- Fatal
- Fatal injuries
- 2
- Weather
- Visual (VMC)
- Light
- Day
Amateur-built RV-6A
- N-number
- N413RV
- Category
- Airplane
- Damage
- Substantial
- Operating rule
- Part 91 (general aviation)
- Purpose of flight
- Instructional
From the NTSB aviation accident database: N-registered aircraft, events since 2008, data through Oct 28, 2026. The file is published monthly, so the latest weeks are incomplete and recent records can change. The official source is the NTSB aviation investigation search. CheckAero is independent and not affiliated with the NTSB.