Friday, August 14, 2020

VariEze, N2ZE: Accident occurred August 09, 2020 in Kelso, San Bernardino County, California

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. 

The National Transportation Safety Board did not travel to the scene of this accident.

Additional Participating Entity:
Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Van Nuys, California

https://registry.faa.gov/N2ZE

Location: Kelso Valley, CA
Accident Number: WPR20LA259
Date & Time: 08/09/2020, 0800 PDT
Registration: N2ZE
Aircraft: Rutan VARI EZE
Injuries: 1 Serious, 1 Minor
Flight Conducted Under: Part 91: General Aviation - Personal

On August 9, 2020, at 0800 Pacific daylight time, a Page/Le Master, Vari-eze experimental airplane, N2ZE, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Kelso Valley, California. The pilot sustained serious injury and the passenger sustained minor injury .The airplane was operated as a 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 personal flight.

The pilot stated he departed California City Municipal Airport (L71),California City, California, with 16 gallons of fuel on board. About one hour after the departure, the pilot experienced a loss of engine power. He switched the fuel selector from the wings to the center tank and the engine regained power for 30 seconds before it lost power. The pilot manipulated the fuel selector from center tank to wing tanks and back to center tank only to experience an additional 20 seconds of regained engine power. After three failed attempts to restart the engine, the pilot decided to execute an emergency landing.The wreckage was retained for further examination.

Aircraft and Owner/Operator Information

Aircraft Make: Rutan
Registration: N2ZE
Model/Series: VARI EZE No Series
Aircraft Category: Airplane
Amateur Built: Yes
Operator: On file
Operating Certificate(s) Held: None

Meteorological Information and Flight Plan

Conditions at Accident Site: Visual Conditions
Condition of Light: Day
Observation Facility, Elevation: L71
Observation Time: 0650 PDT
Distance from Accident Site: 40 Nautical Miles
Temperature/Dew Point: 20°C
Lowest Cloud Condition: Clear
Wind Speed/Gusts, Direction: Calm / ,
Lowest Ceiling: None
Visibility: 10 Miles
Altimeter Setting:
Type of Flight Plan Filed: None
Departure Point: California City, CA (L71)
Destination: California City, CA (L71)

Wreckage and Impact Information

Crew Injuries: 1 Serious
Aircraft Damage: Destroyed
Passenger Injuries: 1 Minor
Aircraft Fire: None
Ground Injuries: N/A
Aircraft Explosion: None
Total Injuries: 1 Serious, 1 Minor
Latitude, Longitude: 35.447778, -118.071944 (est)

1 comment:

  1. It's a 1983 EZ that was on Barnstormers last April. Looks like someone bought it and swapped the O-290 for a O-200. Airworthiness date was only last July. Bad luck.

    https://www.canardzone.com/forums/topic/21972-sales-ive-seen/page/23/

    ReplyDelete