Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sonora, California 95370
Sunday, July 28, 1991 11:50 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A CERTIFICATED FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR AND TWO CERTIFICATED PRIVATE PILOTS WERE PARTICIPATING IN A MOUNTAIN FLYING TRAINING SEMINAR AS PART OF A THREE AIRPLANE FLIGHT. THE ACCIDENT AIRPLANE WAS OBSERVED FOLLOWING A HIGHWAY UP A CANYON TOWARDS A 9,600 FOOT MOUNTAIN PASS. THE AIRPLANE WAS OBSERVED ABOUT 200 FEET ABOVE THE GROUND, BELOW SURROUNDING CANYON WALLS. THE TERRAIN RISES RAPIDLY AT THE END OF THE CANYON. THE AIRPLANE WAS OBSERVED TO MAKE A LEFT TURN AWAY FROM HIGH TERRAIN, PULL UP INTO A NOSE HIGH ALTITUDE, AND DESCEND FROM VIEW. THE AIRPLANE WAS FOUND TO HAVE STRUCK A PINE TREE WITH THE RIGHT WINGTIP, STRIKE ANOTHER TREE, AND THEN COLLIDE WITH A LARGE ROCK OUTCROPPING AT ABOUT 9,000 FEET MEAN SEA LEVEL. AN INTENSE POST IMACCT FIRE CONSUMED ALMOST ALL OF THE AIRPLANE WITH THE EXCEPTION OF PORTIONS OF THE LEFT WING AND TAIL. THE DENSITY ALTITUDE WAS ABOUT 12,000 FEET.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
FAILURE OF THE FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR/PILOT-IN-COMMAND TO ADEQUATELY SUPERVISE THE FLIGHT AND TO MAINTAIN ADEQUATE AIRSPEED BY EXCEEDING THE CLIMB PERFORMANCE OF THE AIRPLANE. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND'S INADEQUATE PLANNING AND HIS SELECTION OF AN IMPROPER ALTITUDE FOR FLIGHT INTO RISING TERRAIN DURING HIGH DENSITY ALTITUDE CONDITIONS.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/28/1991 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1150 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | SONORA |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95370 |
| Event Date Year | 1991 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1147 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 317 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TVL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6264 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 40 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| 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) | 40 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 12000 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2054 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | 0 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 45858 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 12 2000 10:32AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N82716 |
| NTSB Number | LAX91FA333 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA 28-181 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA 28-181 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-8290141 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2550 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 20 1991 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 86 |
| Airframe Hours | 5152 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ROBERT BROWN |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 26993 BEAVER LANE |
| Aircraft Owner City | LOS ALTOS HILLS |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94022 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | WEST VALLEY FLYING CLUB INC. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 1901 EMBARCADERO ROAD, STE 100 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PAO |
| Departure City | PALO ALTO |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1037 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | Q82 |
| Destination City | MARKLEEVILLE |
| 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 | -- |