Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Coalinga, California 93210
Thursday, February 18, 1999 17:45 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot and passenger had flown to northern California for dental work to be performed on the pilot. On the return trip they were receiving VFR advisories from ATC. They were maintaining VFR on top at 14,500 feet msl. A voice thought to be the passenger, who was a rated pilot, transmitted 'we're in big trouble up here' followed by other incomplete or unreadable transmissions. The airplane was lost from radar and radio contact. The wreckage was located in mountainous terrain. The airplane had collided with terrain while in a near vertical attitude. The pilot had obtained a preflight weather briefing prior to flight, and VFR was not recommended. A formal weather study indicated that the airplane most likely flew into clouds. Conditions were conducive for light to moderate rime icing in clouds at the airplane's flight altitude. The time was 11 minutes before official sunset in cloudy conditions.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's inadvertant visual flight into instrument meteorological conditions.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 2/18/1999
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1745
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City COALINGA
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 93210
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 Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1755 Pacific Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 85
Weather Observation Facility ID NLC
Elevation of weather observation facility 234
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 34
Time Zone of the weather observation PST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 10000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 4
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 16
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 11
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 340
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 11
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
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 2
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1220
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Feb 18 1999 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1815
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Mar 4 2001 7:07AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Unknown
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N125TW
NTSB Number LAX99FA104
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 None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Beech
Aircraft Model 95-B55
Aircraft Series Identifier 95-B55
Aircraft Serial Number TC-1617
Certified Max Gross Weight 5100
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 6
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Feb 14 1999 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 2846
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name HOWARD S. GOLDMAN
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1353 W. VALLEY VIEW DR.
Aircraft Owner City FULLERTON
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 92833
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 Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code SAC
Departure City SACRAMENTO
Departure State CA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1649
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code FUL
Destination City FULLERTON
Destination State CA
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Mar 4 2001 7:07AM
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 --