Big Bear City Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Big Bear City, California 92314
Saturday, July 15, 1995 12:35 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

ABOUT 300 FEET INTO THE INITIAL CLIMB, THE PILOT NOTED THE ENGINE RPM HAD DECREASED AND THE RATE OF CLIMB WAS ZERO. HE INITIATED A LEFT TURN BACK TOWARD THE RUNWAY, BUT NOTED HE WAS LOSING BOTH AIRSPEED AND ALTITUDE. HE LOWERED ONE NOTCH OF FLAPS TO MAINTAIN ALTITUDE, BUT THE AIRPLANE CONTINUED TO DESCEND. WITH AIRSPEED STILL DECREASING, THE AIRPLANE COLLIDED WITH TERRAIN SHORT OF THE RUNWAY. THE ESTIMATED DENSITY WAS 8,700 FEET. ACCORDING TO THE MANUFACTURER, MAXIMUM POWER AVAILABLE AT THAT DENSITY ALTITUDE WOULD HAVE BEEN BETWEEN 65 AND 70 PERCENT, OR NO MORE THAN 2,315 RPM AT CRUISE. NO DISCREPANCIES WERE NOTED DURING AN EXAMINATION OF THE AIRPLANE AND A POST-ACCIDENT RUNUP OF THE ENGINE.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

THE PILOT'S IMPROPER PLANNING/DECISION AND FAILURE TO OBTAIN OR MAINTAIN ADEQUATE AIRSPEED DURING TAKEOFF. A FACTOR RELATING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS: THE HIGH DENSITY ALTITUDE.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/15/1995
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1235
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City BIG BEAR CITY
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 92314
Event Date Year 1995
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport BIG BEAR CITY
Event Location Nearest Airport ID L35
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport 80
Airport Elevation 6748
Weather Briefing Completeness Partial - limited by briefer
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1155 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 80
Weather Observation Facility ID L35
Elevation of weather observation facility 6748
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 7500
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 24
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 4
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 50
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) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 8900
Intensity of Precipitation Light
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1317
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jul 15 1995 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1330
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 7 2000 4:25PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N8742N
NTSB Number LAX95LA254
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-28-140
Aircraft Series Identifier PA-28-140
Aircraft Serial Number 28-25557
Certified Max Gross Weight 2150
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 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Apr 30 1995 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 101
Airframe Hours 4000
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name JOHN RO YOON
Aircraft Owner Street Address 5550 BLUEBROOK LANE
Aircraft Owner City YORBA LINDA
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 92687
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 1903 #B AVIATION DRIVE
Operator City CORONA
Operator State CA
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 91720
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 L35
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1225
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code L66
Destination City CORONA
Destination State CA
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Takeoff
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 8
Runway Length 5850
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --