Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Danville, California 94526
Tuesady, January 19, 1999 19:35 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot received a preflight weather briefing and filed a VFR flight plan prior to departing Sacramento, California. During the briefing, the pilot was advised of forecast IFR conditions, with ceilings occasionally less than 1,000 feet and 3 miles visibility. Airmets advised mountain obscuration with scattered moderate to heavy rain. The FSS briefer concluded that after 1900-2000, the weather was going to reduce conditions to marginal VFR flight conditions. When the pilot opened his VFR flight plan by radio the briefer again asked him if he had the airmet for mountain obscuration, IFR conditions, and current information for the route. The pilot said yes he did and the briefer concluded by telling the pilot that VFR flight was not recommended. After the pilot arrived at Livermore airport he was asked by the local controller if he had a clearance on file or if he'd like to file one before he departed Livermore, and the pilot declined. The accident site was located between the elevation of 1,900 to 2,000 feet msl on a route consistent with a downwind departure from Livermore. A weather study by the Safety Board found that the airplane most likely experienced light to moderate rain after takeoff, with the airplane encountering heavy to very heavy rain near the accident site. Witnesses who were in the vicinity of the accident location confirmed that it was raining heavily near the accident timeframe.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's disregard for the preflight weather briefing, and his intentional continuation into adverse weather conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/19/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1935 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | DANVILLE |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 94526 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1953 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 181 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LVK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 397 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2200 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 3 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 12 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 442 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 20 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 5 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 12 2000 11:17AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8579M |
| NTSB Number | LAX99FA078 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 182P |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 182P |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18264633 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2950 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 15 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 28 |
| Airframe Hours | 10067 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | COMSTOCK AIR SERVICES INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P. O. BOX 22849 |
| Aircraft Owner City | SACRAMENTO |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95822 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | AVGA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | LVK |
| Departure City | LIVERMORE |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1923 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SAC |
| Destination City | SACRAMENTO |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |