Steen SKYBOLT accident near Rio Vista, CA
On June 8, 2023, a Steen SKYBOLT (airplane) was involved in an accident near Rio Vista, CA. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- June 8, 2023
- Place
- Rio Vista, CA
- Aircraft
- Steen SKYBOLT · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 38.193°N, 121.686°W
- NTSB ID
- 20230608192338
Official records · WPR23FA219
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn June 08, 2023, about 1124 Pacific daylight time, an experimental, amateur-built Steen Skybolt, N202GM, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident in Rio Vista, California. The two pilots were fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. On the morning of the accident, the front-seat pilot asked the aft-seat pilot to pick him up at Sacramento Mather Airport (MHR), Sacramento, California. The aft-seat pilot departed about 1000 from Concord, California, where the accident airplane was based. The front-seat pilot had dropped off another airplane earlier at MHR and needed to return to Concord. Recorded radar data from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) revealed a primary target that started near the airplane’s known departure point at 1059:09 and ended near the accident site at 1124:20. The flight track was consistent with the airplane flying in a southwesterly direction. At 1115:30, the data was consistent with the airplane making a 360° turn or maneuvering. At 1116:15, the flight track continued on a southerly heading along the Sacramento River Deep Water Ship Channel. The returns then became sparse and continued over the middle of Rio Vista Municipal Airport (O88). The track was consistent with the airplane entering the downwind leg of the airport traffic pattern to runway 25 and continuing onto a left base leg. The track then showed a left hook shape, consistent with a spiral (see figure 1 below). Figure 1: Radar path showing track south and over the runway A witnes
Probable cause
The pilots’ exceedance of the airplane's critical angle of attack while maneuvering to land, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and subsequent loss of control.
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Browse: California
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
