Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Llano, California 93544
Friday, September 4, 1998 7:58 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The non-instrument rated pilot received a weather briefing for his original route of flight the morning of the accident and was advised that IFR conditions existed along that route but that VFR conditions existed through the desert areas. The briefer told the pilot that mid level broken to scattered cloud layers were forecasted and that no thunderstorm activity was expected until after 1100. About 40 minutes into his flight, a pilot friend in a second airplane that was traveling to the same destination caught up with the pilot and they conversed via radio. The second pilot indicated that he filed an IFR flight plan due to the uncertain nature of the weather forecasts. The second pilot stated that the weather started to turn bad, and the accident pilot told him that he was going to turn back. The second pilot saw him make a 180-degree turn and descend into clouds; he did not receive any further communication from the accident pilot. Witnesses at the accident site stated that it had been raining and the clouds were all the way down to the ground, with one witness saying she could not see the neighbor's house 1/4-mile away. One witness stated that the airplane flew directly over her house no higher than 75 feet, made a tight right turn, and then crashed to the ground with a loud bang. The extensively fragmented wreckage was distributed over a distance of 718 feet. Examination of the airframe, engine, propeller, and avionics revealed no discrepancies. Review of the pilot's logbook revealed no evidence of instrument flight experience since 1958.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Pilot's inadvertent VFR flight into instrument meteorological conditions , which resulted in spatial disorientation and a subsequent loss of aircraft control.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/4/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 758 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | LLANO |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93544 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| 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 | 1509 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 278 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PMD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2543 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 35 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2600 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 700 |
| 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) | 1.25 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 40 |
| 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) | 29 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1949 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 4 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 900 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 11:46AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1142W |
| NTSB Number | LAX98FA282 |
| 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 | Simons |
| Aircraft Model | LANCAIR 235 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | LANCAIR 23 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 235-114 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1650 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 19 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 61 |
| Airframe Hours | 61 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | FRANK A. SIMONS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3876 MONTEGO DR. |
| Aircraft Owner City | HUNTINGTON BCH |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92649 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | CNO |
| Departure City | CHINO |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 707 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | RDM |
| Destination City | REDMOND |
| Destination State | OR |
| 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 | -- |