Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Pollack Pines, California 95726
Saturday, April 8, 1995 14:12 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THERE WAS NO RECORD THAT THE PILOT RECEIVED A PREFLIGHT WEATHER BRIEFING FROM THE FAA OR NWS SYSTEMS. THE PILOT TOLD THE OPERATOR HE CHANGED HIS DESTINATION DUE TO HIGH WINDS TO AN AREA WITH BETTER WEATHER. THE PILOT CHANGED HIS DESTINATION A SECOND TIME WITHOUT TELLING THE OPERATOR TO AN AIRPORT THAT WOULD REQUIRE CROSSING THE SIERRA NEVADA MOUNTAINS. HIGH WINDS WERE ALSO FORECASTED FOR THE MOUNTAINS. A CENTER WEATHER WATCH WAS BROADCASTED BY APPROACH CONTROL, WHILE THE PILOT WAS ON THE FREQUENCY, FORECASTING MODERATE AND OCCASIONAL SEVERE TURBULENCE, STRONG UP-AND-DOWN DRAFTS, LOW LEVEL WIND SHEAR, AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 45 KNOTS. THE CLOSEST WEATHER OBSERVATION STATION WAS UPWIND OF THE ACCIDENT SITE. THE STATION HAD TAKEN SIX SPECIAL WEATHER OBSERVATIONS IN ADDITION TO TWO SCHEDULED OBSERVATIONS DUE TO CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS. THE AIRPLANE WAS OBSERVED DESCENDING UNCONTROLLED WITHOUT THE TAIL BY NUMEROUS WITNESSES. ICE WAS OBSERVED ON THE WINGS, IN AN INDUCTION HOSE, AND THE RAM AIR PORT OF THE PITOT STATIC SYSTEM AFTER THE ACCIDENT.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's disregard of a hazardous weather advisory; his decision to fly into known adverse weather conditions; his failure to maintain control of the airplane with an accumulation of airframe ice; and his improper use of the flight controls during recovery from the inflight upset exceeding the airplane's stress limits. The adverse weather and airframe ice were factors in the accident.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/8/1995 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1412 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | POLLACK PINES |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95726 |
| Event Date Year | 1995 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| 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 | 1428 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 246 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MCC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 75 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 39 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| 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) | 8 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| 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 | 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1059 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 8 1995 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1440 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 7 2000 4:12PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3904T |
| NTSB Number | LAX95FA157 |
| 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 | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28R-180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28R-180 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28R-30238 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2500 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 21 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 8 |
| Airframe Hours | 2921 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WINTERS, CONNIE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 41242 |
| Aircraft Owner City | BAKERSFIELD |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93384 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | S & S FLIGHT CENTER |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 410 EAST PLANZ ROAD |
| Operator City | BAKERSFIELD |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 93307 |
| Operator Code | YPHA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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 | L45 |
| Departure City | BAKERSFIELD |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1205 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | TVL |
| Destination City | SO. LAKE TAHOE |
| 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 | -- |