Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Devore, California 92325
Saturday, July 30, 1994 19:17 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During cruise flight and within 5 minutes, the pilot's number one radio quit, followed by the number two radio, and then the transponder. He became uncertain about his position and was concerned about decreasing visibility and impending darkness. He began a descent and followed a freeway. He stated that all the right side panel instruments then 'went out,' followed 2 minutes later by all of the left side panel instruments. He flew through a valley, saw the words 'San Bernardino' on a building, and concluded that he was east of track. He saw an airport for a precautionary landing, but thought that the runway was not long enough. He then saw a dirt road near the freeway and choose it instead. He was concerned about stalling, so he added 10 knots to his approach speed. The pilot braked hard to avoid going into an intersection, struck a wooden pole, and veered off the road into a ditch. The operator reported that the alternator had 'gone off-line.'
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
was the failure of the pilot to follow checklist and emergency procedures, which resulted in an improper decision to land on a dirt road within two miles of an airport.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/30/1994 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1917 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | DEVORE |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92325 |
| Event Date Year | 1994 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1945 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 230 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ONT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 943 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 14 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| 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 | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 284 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 30 1994 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1947 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 6 2000 11:44AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2500Y |
| NTSB Number | LAX94LA304 |
| 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 | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-161 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28-161 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-8516073 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2440 |
| 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 | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 26 1994 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 13 |
| Airframe Hours | 4749 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | KEITH R. SWEITZER |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 13858 RANSOM ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | MOORPARK |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93021 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | FREDRICK VOORHIS |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 16233 VAN OWEN BLVD |
| Operator City | VAN NUYS |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 91406 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | LAS |
| Departure City | LAS VEGAS |
| Departure State | NV |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1715 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | VNY |
| Destination City | VAN NUYS |
| 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 | -- |