AERO COMMANDER 500B, RAYVILLE, LA., NOV. 1, 2002–At 11:30 a.m. the 1960 Aero Commander was destroyed when it crashed while maneuvering near Rayville. N1HV was owned and operated by the airline transport-rated pilot who was killed in the accident along with two pilot-rated passengers. It departed the Monroe Regional Airport (MLU), Monroe, La., at 11:09 a.m. for a local flight to demonstrate the airplane to a prospective buyer. No flight plan was filed and VMC prevailed in the area.
Several witnesses either heard the airplane or saw it for a few seconds before it disappeared from view. One, a private pilot, reported seeing the airplane at an altitude of approximately 1,000 ft agl doing power-off stalls. He described the first stall initiation and recovery as “good.” The power was reduced, the nose pitched up and there was an increase in power as the airplane recovered from the maneuver, he reported. During the second stall, the nose rose higher than it did during the first maneuver, the right wing dropped and the aircraft assumed a steep nose-down attitude, he continued. The airplane rotated about 1.5 revolutions before disappearing behind trees. Before impact the witness heard the engines rev up.