Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Avalon, California 90704
Wednesday, September 30, 1998 18:35 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot intended to complete a local flight around Santa Catalina Island. Friends indicated the pilot was starting an aerial photography business. One friend, a photographer, flew a previous photographic flight around the island with the pilot and stated they flew well below the level of the mountaintops. The airplane collided with upsloping terrain at an elevation of approximately 1,440 feet mean sea level (msl). The accident site was at the apex of a peak less than 1/2 mile east of the highest point, Silver Peak, 1,804 feet msl, on Santa Catalina Island's western peninsula. The shoreline (sea level) was less than a mile to the right of the flight path. The debris field was about 120 feet long on a magnetic heading of 315 degrees. This roughly paralleled the ridgeline in this area. There were no witnesses. The hour meter indicated 0.8 hours elapsed during the flight. The airplane was discovered the following morning by a Coast Guard helicopter investigating an emergency locator transmitter (ELT) signal. Sunset was at 1844. Inclination of the sun was 1.9, 1.0, and 0.1 degrees at 1830, 1835, and 1840 respectively. The sun's azimuth was 250.8, 251.5, and 252.2, respectively.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate altitude/clearance. Contributing to the accident were the hilly and mountainous terrain and glare from the setting sun.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/30/1998
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1835
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City AVALON
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 90704
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 46 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 100
Weather Observation Facility ID AVX
Elevation of weather observation facility 1602
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 8
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 300
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 9
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 14
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 13
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 230
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 10
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) 1762
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Oct 1 1998 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 945
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 Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N49770
NTSB Number LAX98FA312
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 Cessna
Aircraft Model 152
Aircraft Series Identifier 152
Aircraft Serial Number 83509
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 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Aug 26 1998 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 20
Airframe Hours 8608
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Yes
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name STARCRAFT ENTERPRISES INC
Aircraft Owner Street Address 3000 ARIWAY AVE STE 125
Aircraft Owner City COSTA MESA
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 92626
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name ORANGE COUNTY FLIGHT CENTER
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 19711 CAMPUS DR
Operator City SANTA ANA
Operator State CA
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 92707
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 SNA
Departure City SANTA ANA
Departure State CA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1758
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code
Destination City
Destination State
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 --