Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Joshua Tree, California 92252
Thursday, February 4, 1999 14:40 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot of the lead aircraft in the two-aircraft formation received a preflight weather briefing that included an AIRMET for mountain obscuration throughout the intended area of flight. The area forecast was for broken ceilings at 1,500 to 2,500 feet and a second broken layer at 3,000 to 5,000 feet. When the aircraft did not arrive at their destination, a search was initiated and the two airplanes were found on a mountain slope at 5,300 feet msl. The lead aircraft impacted the slope about 250 feet below a ridgeline. The wingman impacted on the same slope approximately 220 feet further up the slope and offset 30 feet to the right. Park service rangers reported that weather near the accident site at the time consisted of overcast clouds with the tops of the mountains intermittently obscured in clouds, snow, and light rain. Scattered clouds locally obscured lower terrain. The nearest weather reporting point, 17 miles distant, reported an overcast cloud layer at 5,300 feet msl.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's decision to attempt flight into an area of known adverse weather and the subsequent inadvertent VFR flight into IFR conditions resulting in an in-flight collision with mountainous terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/4/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1440 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | JOSHUA TREE |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92252 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| 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 | Partial - limited by pilot |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1453 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 217 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PSP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 462 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 17 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4800 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 28 |
| 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) | 1217 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 6 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1030 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 16 2001 5:12PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Unknown |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N128BJ |
| NTSB Number | LAX99FA090 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | North American |
| Aircraft Model | T-28C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | T-28C |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 140509 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 9000 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 24 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 10468 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AIRCRAFT CYLINDER AND TURBINE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 10959 TUXFORD ST |
| Aircraft Owner City | SUN VALLEY |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 91352 |
| 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 | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | VNY |
| Departure City | VAN NUYS |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1351 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | TRM |
| Destination City | THERMAL |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| 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 | -- |