What happened
On September 12, 2025, at approximately 14:21 Pacific daylight time, a Lancair Super ES, registration N905ET, crashed near Mount Hamilton, California. The flight was being operated under 14 CFR Part 91 for personal use. The pilot was scheduled to fly from Ryan Field Airport (RYN) in Tucson, Arizona, to Norman Y Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC) in San Jose, California.
Witnesses near the accident site, including hunters, observed the aircraft circling their location at high speed at an altitude of approximately 1,000 feet. During a subsequent circle, the aircraft descended to roughly 300 feet above ground level and executed a sharp right turn. Following this maneuver, the aircraft continued to bank to the right and descended into a hillside. Witnesses noted the sound of what appeared to be full engine power during the descent.
ADS-B flight tracking data indicated the aircraft was on a northeast heading at an altitude of approximately 8,900 feet MSL at 13:00:12. ADS-B contact was lost approximately 242 miles southwest of the crash site.
The investigation
The aircraft impacted mountainous terrain along the western edge of a valley, approximately 5 miles northeast of Mount Hamilton. The first identified point of contact was a 12-foot-tall tree, which sustained damage to limbs near its top. The debris path spanned approximately 90 feet on a heading of about 250° magnetic, containing various flight control surfaces and propeller fragments. The fuselage came to rest inverted at an elevation of 2,148 feet MSL.
1 fatal injury was reported.