ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 40316
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| Date: | Saturday 23 December 1995 |
| Time: | 01:19 LT |
| Type: |  Piper PA-31-350 Chieftain |
| Owner/operator: | Ameriflight, Inc. |
| Registration: | N27954 |
| MSN: | 31-7952062 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1979 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 9840 hours |
| Engine model: | Lycoming TIO-540-J2BD |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | 16 miles NNE of San Jose, Santa Clara County, California -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | Oakland, CA (KOAK) |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The aircraft impacted mountainous terrain in controlled flight during hours of darkness and marginal VFR conditions. The flight was being vectored for an instrument approach during the pilot's 14 CFR Part 135 instrument competency check flight. The flight was instructed by approach control to maintain VFR conditions, and was assigned a heading and altitude to fly which caused the aircraft to fly into another airspace sector below the minimum vectoring altitude (MVA). FAA Order 7110.65, Section 5-6-1, requires that if a VFR aircraft is assigned both a heading and altitude simultaneously, the altitude must be at or above the MVA. The controller did not issue a safety alert, and in an interview, said he was not concerned when the flight approached an area of higher minimum vectoring altitudes (MVA's) because the flight was VFR and 'pilots fly VFR below the MVA every day.' At the time of the accident, the controller was working six arrival sectors and experienced a surge of arriving aircraft. The approach control facility supervisor was monitoring the controller and did not detect and correct the vector below the MVA.
Probable Cause: The failure of the air traffic controller to comply with instructions contained in the Air Traffic Control Handbook, FAA Order 7110.65, which resulted in the flight being vectored at an altitude below the minimum vectoring altitude (MVA) and failure to issue a safety advisory. In addition, the controller's supervisor monitoring the controller's actions failed to detect and correct the vector below the MVA. A factor in the accident was the flightcrew's failure to maintain situational awareness of nearby terrain and failure to challenge the controller's instructions.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB LAX96FA078
FAA register: 2. FAA: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=27954
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 24-Oct-2008 10:30 | ASN archive | Added |
| 22-Jun-2015 00:11 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 22-Jun-2015 00:14 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location, Narrative] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:23 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 13-Oct-2017 16:00 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Source, Narrative] |
| 09-Apr-2024 10:26 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Operator, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category, Accident report] |
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