THE DTSB
Pending. Mid Air collision with a Cessna 172, N61657. Steep descending left base to final turn by the pilot of the aerobatic aircraft, resulting in a mid air air collision with straight in C-172 on final for same runway. The Extra 300 hit the 172. The event was an EAA/IAC sanctioned competition, organized by Jeff Baker. There was no waivered airspace, or airboss, and none was required. There was an FAA NOTAM in place at the time of the accident which said “Aerobatic aircraft within an area defined as a 2 nm radius of KFMM.” Early reports indicate that the Cessna was practicing an IFR approach and did make three position reports, while the extra 300 was on a separate non published communication frequency, and was not advised of the straight in traffic. The person on the ground was not monitoring the Unicom frequency of 123.05 and the 172 pilot was not monitoring the private frequency. The aerobatic flights are typically flown with very little fuel reserve and often make steep approaches to the runway for both fuel saving and for forward visibility purposes. It is likely that neither PIC had any information about another aircraft to be looking for, due to the split frequency arrangement. This narrative and Probable Cause will be updated to a final version by October 5, 2025.