ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 38880
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| Date: | Wednesday 24 May 1989 |
| Time: | 14:40 |
| Type: |  Piper PA-28-181 |
| Owner/operator: | private |
| Registration: | N4527F |
| MSN: | 28-7790041 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1976 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Dinsmore, CA -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Executive |
| Departure airport: | Eureka, CA (EKA) |
| Lakeport, CA (102) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
THE PILOT HAD CONTACTED FSS EARLIER IN THE DAY AT 0640 AND REQUESTED ONLY CURRENT WX AT EUREKA FOR A ROUND-TRIP FLT FROM LAKEPORT TO EUREKA & RETURN. THE FLT DEPARTED EUREKA AT ABOUT 1415 FOR THE RETURN flight. WITNESSES OBSERVED THE AIRPLANE FLYING VERY LOW IN MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN; ONE WITNESS STATED '... HE CAME UP OUT OF THE FOG AT CLOSE TO TREETOP LEVEL ...' THE WX WAS DESCRIBED AS LOW CLOUDS, FOG, AND LIGHT RAIN. WRECKAGE WAS LOCATED IN RISING 4,900-FT MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN. PILOT TYPICALLY FLEW NEAR HWY 101 EXCEPT DURING INCLEMENT WX WHEN HE WOULD DIVERT TO THE EAST & FLY VIA HWY 36. HE HAD A MOTOR VEHICLE PARKED AT RUTH AIRPORT FOR USE IN INSTANCES OF VERY POOR WX. PILOT HAD ANOTHER FLT SCHEDULED FOR 1500 AT LAKEPORT, AND WAS ALSO SCHEDULED TO TEACH SCHOOL AT 1800. CAUSE: THE PILOT'S INTENTIONAL VFR FLIGHT INTO INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS, AND HIS FAILURE TO MAINTAIN ADEQUATE TERRAIN CLEARANCE. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO OBTAIN WEATHER INFORMATION, HIS OVERCONFIDENCE IN HIS ABILITY TO FLY IN MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN IN THE EXISTING WEATHER CONDITIONS, THE URGENCY TO RETURN FOR OTHER PLANNED ACTIVITIES, THE EXISTING WEATHER CONDITIONS, AND THE MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN CONDITION.
Sources:
NTSB: https://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20001213X28338
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 24-Oct-2008 10:30 | ASN archive | Added |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:23 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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