Amateur-built BANTY N995GS accident near Camarillo, California

Probable cause

The pilot’s failure to maintain proper airspeed and his exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall.

NTSB analysis

The accident occurred as the pilot was taking off from an ultralight runway. Portions of the takeoff and accident were captured on a security video. The airplane became airborne and, as seen in the video, it entered a climbing left turn. As the airplane ascended to about treetop level, the bank angle increased greater than 60° as the airplane turned about 90° off the runway heading. The airplane then descended out of view behind trees. The airplane came to rest inverted on top of an airport hangar and was substantially damaged.

The pilot stated he had not flown the airplane for years and could not recall what happened during the flight. A witness stated that the pilot told him after the accident that he stalled the airplane and that there was nothing wrong with the airplane.

Examination of the wreckage found no anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. The accident sequence is consistent with the pilot banking excessively after takeoff, which resulted in the airplane exceeding the critical angle of attack at a slow airspeed and stalling.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for WPR22LA310 for the full record.