FlightFollowerFatal Plane Crash in Simi Valley Neighborhood Killing Two People and A Dog | (2025)
Accident facts and aircraft context
On 3 May 2025, experimental amateur-built Van's RV-10 N626PB was destroyed after impacting two residential structures in Simi Valley, California.
Two people and a dog aboard the aircraft died; no ground fatalities were reported.
The NTSB investigation was preliminary in the documented record and had not established a final probable cause.
Purpose of the flight
Personal travel in an experimental amateur-built aircraft.
Flight sequence and key events
Fox Airfield in Lancaster, California, bound for Camarillo Airport.
Aboard were the aircraft's owner and builder, Paul Berkovitz, 69, of Westlake Village, his son Matthew Berkovitz, 36, of Thousand Oaks, and the family dog, Brody.
Around 1:50 p.m., the aircraft was seen and heard circling for nearly three minutes over a residential neighborhood in Simi Valley's Wood Ranch area — security video later reviewed by local media showed it flying close to homes at points, and at one moment shooting almost straight up before dropping back down.
The pilot radioed air traffic control that the aircraft was turning and that he couldn't arrest the turn.
Shortly after, it came down into the backyards of two homes on High Meadow Street.
The left wing struck one house, the right wing struck the other; both caught fire.
Paul and Matthew Berkovitz, along with Brody, did not survive.
Both homes were occupied — one resident was in his backyard trimming trees when he heard and then saw the aircraft circling above; the other family had stepped out and returned to find their house damaged, windows shattered in the room where relatives usually sat.
Paul Berkovitz had built the RV-10 himself — it's a popular kit aircraft among experienced homebuilders, prized for being a genuine four-seat family airplane rather than a single-seat sport design.
The family later thanked the Ventura County Fire Department, Simi Valley Police, and first responders for their efforts at the scene, and asked for privacy while they mourned.
Investigation findings
Investigators determined the aircraft first struck palm trees on the High Meadow Street property, damaging a stone wall, before the wreckage scattered across a debris field roughly 221 by 150 feet — major components including the engine, wing spars, fuselage, and propeller were all recovered on site.
The NTSB's preliminary report, led by investigator-in-charge Michael Hicks, confirms the flight departed Lancaster on an IFR flight plan and that the weather at the time was instrument conditions — meaning the pilot would have been relying on instruments rather than outside visual reference, which fits with the extended, unusual circling pattern witnesses described before the crash.
A final probable-cause determination hasn't been released, and the specific reason the pilot lost control of the turn remains under investigation.
The investigation continues into what happened during those final minutes of circling flight, so that the sequence that turned a routine trip between two Southern Californiairports into a tragedy for one family — and a very close call for two others — can be understood.
The Simi Valley accident occurred on 3 May 2025. The FAA identified the aircraft as a Vans RV-10 that departed William J. Fox Airfield in Lancaster for Camarillo. Two people and a dog died aboard; two homes were damaged and there were no reported ground fatalities. The NTSB investigation was ongoing, so the cause is not presented as established.
How the event developed
The aircraft entered an unusual circling sequence over Simi Valley and then descended into residential properties. The NTSB investigation was still preliminary, so the reason for the loss of control had not been established.
What the evidence shows
The aircraft’s unusual circling and final descent are established, but the reason for the loss of control was not. With the NTSB investigation still preliminary, no final causal conclusion can responsibly be drawn.
- Incident date
- 3 May 2025 Type: Van's RV-10 Registration: N626PB Departure airport: Lancaster-W
- Aircraft / registration
- Van’s RV-10 — N626PB
- Investigation status
- NTSB preliminary investigation