Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Descanso, California 91916
Sunday, June 7, 1998 14:50 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The purpose of the flight was to conduct the cross-country portion of the student's flight training to obtain a private pilot certificate. A coastal mountain range bisected the course between the takeoff airport, which was under the influence of cloud layers, and the destination airport, which was in clear weather conditions. Both the certified flight instructor (CFI) and student received three separate weather briefings stating that visual flight rules flight was not recommended along the intended route of flight due to mountain obscuration and moderate turbulence. As the flight proceeded into mountainous terrain, the flight encountered clouds that were merging with higher terrain and the CFI elected to turn around. The CFI said that half way through the 180-degree turn, they were struck by a strong downdraft that pushed the aircraft into the ground. A witness to the accident stated that he saw the airplane at 150 feet above ground level as it came out of the clouds executing a left turn, and then saw it abruptly descend and impact trees and terrain. The witness also said that there were strong gusty wind conditions present at the accident site. No discrepancies were found during an examination of the engine or airframe. A meteorological study was conducted that substantiated the National Weather Service forecast in effect at the time of the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the certified flight instructor's disregard of the weather briefings and forecasted en route weather conditions, and, his failure to maintain adequate altitude/clearance in mountainous terrain. Contributing to the accident were instrument meteorological conditions and mountainous terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/7/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1450 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | DESCANSO |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 91916 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| 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 | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1447 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 260 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SEE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 387 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 21 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2500 |
| 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) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| 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 | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1819 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 8 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 800 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 11:32AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Unknown |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5343M |
| NTSB Number | LAX98LA187 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 152 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 152 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15284547 |
| 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 | Mar 31 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 45 |
| Airframe Hours | 8568 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WESLEY D. PHILLIPS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 357027 |
| Aircraft Owner City | SAN DIEGO |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92135 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | MYF |
| Departure City | SAN DIEGO |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1400 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | IPL |
| Destination City | IMPERIAL |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| 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 | -- |