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Simi Valley residents thought the small aircraft circling the neighborhood on Saturday was part of the airshow.
The plane appeared to fly irregularly, and I drew it as I approached the ground. There was a huge boom when a Kit plane cut out a house on High Meadow Street, near Wood Ranch. Authorities say two passengers on the plane and a dog on the plane were killed at the scene.
The second fatal crash in five months involving that model aircraft is highlighting the overall process of obtaining such experimental and amateur kit aircraft, the rate of accidents, and regulatory approval to fly passengers.
According to experimental aircraft enthusiasts, around 30,000 amateur planes are currently certified in the United States. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the total number of registered aircraft has tripled since the 1980s. Nailing the exact number of such planes in use is a moving target, as new registered planes and databases to track uninterrupted use are not always up to date.
According to enthusiasts, kit planes are much cheaper than factory-built aircraft and are becoming increasingly popular as they give the community a sense of customizing their routes into the sky.
The FAA said the single-engine van RV-10, a fixed-wing plane, departed from Lancaster on its way to Camarillo on Saturday.
The FAA website shows that the plane has been registered with Paul Bellkowitz in Westlake Village.
Medical inspectors have not made the names of the two individuals who died in the crash. Berkovitz is listed as the former owner of Camp Bow Wow Agoura Hills and Bow Wow Bungalow at Burbank.
He has a passion on social media to help animals in overcrowded shelters and has shared that he will be flying his dogs to his new home from the shelter for a nonprofit called Pilot N-Pau.
“This is the most satisfying flight I’ve ever done as a pilot,” he told Pet Vet Sales, a pet business broker and consulting company. The company also noted that Belkovitz enjoyed flying his amateur construction RV-10 plane, the same type that he crashed in Simi Valley.
Shortly before the crash, the control tower at Camarillo Airport tried to contact the pilot. He didn’t respond immediately, and when he spoke his words, his words were garbled.
Finally, his voice became clear when he said, “We need vectors. The plane keeps me on.”
Air traffic controllers repeatedly asked pilots to provide altitude, but there was no clear response, according to audio posted to Liveatc.
“You’ve lost radar contact,” the traffic controller said. That is, the tower had not received surveillance data used to determine the location of the aircraft.
Authorities have not announced the identity of the pilot or his passenger.
The official cause of the crash is under investigation by the National Traffic Safety Commission, a federal agency tasked with investigating the crash and crash. According to an agency spokesperson, a preliminary report could be issued over the next 30 days and the final report could be released in the next 1-2 years.
While much unknown remains about the crash, authorities have confirmed that the plane is an experimental or amateur kit aircraft. About 1,000 kit-made planes are considered air worth the annual air by the FAA, according to a spokesman for the Experimental Aircraft Association, an international organisation for aviation enthusiasts.
According to available data from the FAA, there were fewer fatal accidents involving experimental categories and amateur boot aircraft, 12-18 and 18-18 during the period from October to May.
The Vans RV-10, which crashed into the Simi Valley on Saturday, was the model for the plane that hit a warehouse in Fullerton on January 2, killing the pilot, a 16-year-old daughter, and injuring 19 people on the ground. The company selling Van’s Aircraft, a kit plane, is based in Aurora, Ore.
Before the crash in January, the experimental category saw a drop of about 25% in fatal accidents compared to 10 years ago, according to the Experimental Aircraft Association. Available data shows that between 2005 and 2014, 527 fatal accidents in the homemade category were 329 between 2015 and 2024.
According to the FAA, if more than 51% of planes are manufactured and assembled by individuals or groups for educational or recreational purposes, amateur aircraft meet the definition.
Some enthusiasts choose to buy a kit with airplane parts that are already manufactured, while others choose to buy or manufacture and assemble their own parts.
Often, these homemade planes are assembled between $10,000 and $100,000 in residential garages, depending on the type of aircraft that enthusiasts are hoping to fly, according to the Institute of Experimental Aircraft.
The FAA inspector or certified inspector then meticulously passes through the builder’s log of when the parts were assembled and how long it took. Builders should compile a timeline showing photos and how to assemble the plane.
Afterwards, pilots should complete 25-40 hours of test flights in well-maintained areas to ensure that all parts are functioning properly, according to the Experimental Aircraft Association guidelines. Only after that phase is completed can the pilot take passengers.
The Vans RV-10 is one of the most commonly used and refined kits available on the market, EAA Vice President Sean Elliott said earlier this year after the crash in January.
“They make up a large part of the recreational fleet of amateur aircraft and provide a lot of support to builders and pilots,” Elliott said.
After Saturday’s crash fall, EAA spokesman Dick Napinski warned that each plane’s crash fall must be considered an incident of its own.
“Like car accidents, those causes make accidents 50 or 100 or 1,000 miles away from each other almost different situations,” he said.
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