Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Dunsmuir, California 96025
Monday, March 29, 1993 20:10 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
AFTER RECEIVING A WEATHER BRIEFING, THE COMMERCIAL/INSTRUMENT RATED PILOT, THE SOLE OCCUPANT, DEPARTED ON A NIGHT CROSS COUNTRY FLIGHT OVER MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN. THE FORECASTED WEATHER CONDITIONS INCLUDED SCATTERED CLOUDS AT 4,000 TO 6,000 FEET, BROKEN CLOUDS AT 8,000 FEET WITH A FREEZING LEVEL OF 7,000 FEET. NO FLIGHT PLAN WAS FILED. NO FURTHER CONTACT WITH THE AIRPLANE WAS FOUND UNTIL THE WRECKAGE OF THE AIRPLANE WAS LOCATED 7 DAYS AFTER DEPARTURE. WITNESSES IN THE AREA OF THE ACCIDENT REPORTED CONTINUOUS RAIN ON THE NIGHT OF THE ACCIDENT. THE LAST NTAP RADAR DATA OF THE AIRPLANE SHOWED A DESCENT FROM 8,000 FEET TO 7,400 FEET BEFORE CONTACT WAS LOST. A METEOROLOGICAL STUDY OF THE ACCIDENT AREA REVEALED AREAS OF LIGHT RAIN WITH A FREEZING LEVEL OF 6,300 FEET.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
AN INADVERTENT ENCOUNTER WITH RAIN AND ICING CONDITIONS. FACTORS IN THIS ACCIDENT INCLUDED ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS CONSISTING OF RAIN, ICING, AND DARKNESS, AND THE PILOT'S OVERCONFIDENCE IN HIS ABILITIES TO DEAL WITH THE ENCOUNTERED WEATHER CONDITIONS.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/29/1993 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 2010 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | DUNSMUIR |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 96025 |
| Event Date Year | 1993 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| 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 | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Partial - limited by pilot |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1920 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 165 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RDD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 502 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 30 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| 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) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 695 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 5 1993 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 710 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 52816 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 1:11PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N89174 |
| NTSB Number | LAX93FA165 |
| 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 | 15282660 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1675 |
| 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 16 1993 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 6663 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MINOT, THOMAS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 366 SIERRA VISTA AVE UNIT 1 |
| Aircraft Owner City | MOUNTAIN VIEW |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94043 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | PALO ALTO FLYING CLUB |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 1903 EMBARCADERO RD. |
| Operator City | PALO ALTO |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 94303 |
| 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 | S03 |
| Departure City | ASHLAND |
| Departure State | OR |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1906 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PAO |
| Destination City | PALO ALTO |
| 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 | -- |