Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ventura, California 93004
Thursday, May 12, 1994 8:25 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PILOTS DEPARTED ON AN IFR FLIGHT WITH CLEARANCE TO CLIMB TO VFR CONDITIONS ON TOP. THE TOPS OF THE CLOUDS WERE REPORTED AT 2500 FEET. THE PERSON IN THE RIGHT FRONT SEAT HELD AN INSTRUMENT RATING AND WAS PRESUMED TO BE THE FIRST PILOT (PIC). THE PERSON IN THE LEFT FRONT SEAT WAS ALSO A PILOT, BUT DID NOT POSSESS AN INSTRUMENT RATING. THE AIRPLANE WAS EQUIPPED WITH A SINGLE SET OF FLIGHT INSTRUMENTS IN FRONT OF THE LEFT SEAT. ACCORDING TO RECORDED RADAR DATA, THE AIRPLANE DID NOT REACH AN ALTITUDE WHERE VFR CONDITIONS WERE REPORTED. AT ABOUT 2300 TO 2400 FEET MSL, THE AIRPLANE ENTERED A DESCENT, THEN RADAR CONTACT WAS LOST. WITNESSES HEARD AND SAW THE AIRPLANE IN A STEEP DIVE AS IT DESCENDED BELOW THE ESTIMATED 500-FOOT OVERCAST. NO PREIMPACT MECHANICAL FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION OF THE AIRPLANE WAS FOUND.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
FAILURE OF THE FLIGHT CREW TO MAINTAIN CONTROL OF THE AIRPLANE IN INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS (IMC), DUE TO SPATIAL DISORIENTATION. A FACTOR RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WAS: THE FIRST PILOT'S OVERCONFIDENCE IN HIS ABILITY TO ASSURE CONTROL OF THE AIRPLANE FROM THE RIGHT SEAT BY REFERENCE TO THE INSTRUMENTS LOCATED IN FRONT OF THE LEFT SEAT.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/12/1994 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 825 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | VENTURA |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93004 |
| Event Date Year | 1994 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| 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 | 8 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 292 |
| Airport Elevation | 75 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 746 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 101 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CMA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 75 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Partial Obscuration |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 1 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| 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 | 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) | 1956 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 12 1994 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 845 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 6 2000 11:14AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N231WD |
| NTSB Number | LAX94FA217 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR/IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | MOONEY |
| Aircraft Model | M20K |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | M20K |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 25-0765 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2900 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 12 1993 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 119 |
| Airframe Hours | 1128 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | REEDS, JOHN W |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 110 ROCKRIDGE DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | SEDONA |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 86336 |
| 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 | CMA |
| Departure City | CAMARILLO |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 819 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SDZ |
| Destination City | SEDONA |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent - uncontrolled |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| 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 | -- |