Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Half Moon Bay Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Half Moon Bay, California 94019
Sunday, June 19, 1994 23:14 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PILOT AND PASSENGER DEPARTED A COASTAL AIRPORT AS THE RETURN PORTION OF A NIGHT CROSS-COUNTRY FLIGHT. THE DEPARTURE ROUTE PLACED THE AIRPLANE OVER AN OCEAN BAY. WEATHER CONDITIONS WERE REPORTED AS AN 800 TO 1,000 FOOT OVERCAST. WITNESSES HEARD THE AIRCRAFT'S ENGINE AND THEN OBSERVED THE AIRPLANE DESCENDING FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE OVERCAST IN A SPIN. THE AIRPLANE STRUCK THE WATER IN A NEAR-VERTICAL NOSE-DOWN ATTITUDE. A SEARCH FOR THE AIRCRAFT ONLY LOCATED FLOATING DEBRIS. SEVERAL SUBSEQUENT SEARCHES HAVE NOT LOCATED THE AIRCRAFT. THE OCCUPANTS INITIALLY WERE NOT RECOVERED. THE PILOT'S BODY WAS RECOVERED 1 MONTH AFTER THE ACCIDENT. THE PASSENGER HAS NOT BEEN LOCATED.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PILOT'S LOSS OF AIRCRAFT CONTROL DUE TO SPATIAL DISORIENTATION.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/19/1994 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 2314 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | HALF MOON BAY |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 94019 |
| Event Date Year | 1994 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | HALF MOON BAY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | HAF |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 120 |
| Airport Elevation | 67 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2300 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 30 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SFO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 11 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 9 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1100 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 800 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 12 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 300 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| 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) | 1104 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 20 1994 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 110 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 6 2000 11:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N761GZ |
| NTSB Number | LAX94LA261 |
| 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 | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 152 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 152 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | A15220953 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1670 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 30 1993 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 48 |
| Airframe Hours | 6868 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | KAROL J. BIALY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 722 LA PRENDA RD. |
| Aircraft Owner City | LOS ALTOS |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94022 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | WEST VALLEY FLYING CLUB |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 1901 EMBARCADERO SUITE 100 |
| Operator City | PALO ALTO |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 94303 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 2312 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PAO |
| Destination City | PALO ALTO |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb |
| 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 | -- |