Salinas Mun. Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Salinas, California 93905
Thursday, October 6, 1988 18:08 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

AFTER RECEIVING A LIMITED WEATHER BRIEFING THAT REPORTED AN OVERCAST SKY AT 1,500 FEET AGL AT HIS DESTINATION, THE PILOT TOOKOFF WITHOUT FILING A FLIGHT PLAN. UPON ARRIVING AT HIS DESTINATION, ABOVE THE WEATHER, THE PILOT REQUESTED AND RECEIVED AN ILS APPROACH TO THE AIRPORT. AFTER PASSING THE INITIAL APPROACH FIX AND DESCENDING TO 2,200 FEET MSL OUTSIDE THE OUTER MARKER, THE PILOT INFORMED THE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER THAT HE WAS EXECUTING A MISSED APPROACH. THIS WAS THE LAST COMMUNICATION WITH THE AIRCRAFT. APPROXIMATELY ONE MINUTE AND THIRTY FIVE SECONDS LATER THE CONTROLLER HEARD AN ELT SIGNAL. THE AIRCRAFT'S WRECKAGE WAS FOUND AT 0700 HOURS PDT ON OCTOBER 7, 1988, BY A GROUND SEARCH PARTY. THE WRECKAGE WAS AT AN ELEVATION OF 2,350 FEET, ON THE SIDE OF A 3,560 FOOT HIGH MOUNTAIN, ABOUT 7 MILES SOUTH OF THE ILS APPROACH COURSE. ANOTHER PILOT WHO WAS AIRBORNE IN THE AREA ABOUT 30 MINUTES AFTER THE ACCIDENT PILOT REPORTED HIS MISSED APPROACH STATED THAT THE CLOUD TOPS WERE AT 2,400 FEET.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

THE PILOT FAILED TO FOLLOW PUBLISHED MISSED APPROACH PROCEDURES. FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WERE THE PILOT LACK OF RECENT EXPERIENCE IN TYPE OF OPERATION, INSTRUMENT GO-AROUND PROCEDURES, AND THE CLOUD COVERED MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/6/1988
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1808
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City SALINAS
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 93905
Event Date Year 1988
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport SALINAS MUN.
Event Location Nearest Airport ID SNS
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 13
Degrees magnetic from airport 150
Airport Elevation 79
Weather Briefing Completeness Partial - limited by pilot
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1750 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 330
Weather Observation Facility ID SNS
Elevation of weather observation facility 79
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 13
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
Lowest Ceiling Height 1800
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
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) 15
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 12
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 300
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 2400
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) 2411
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Oct 8 1988 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2300
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 39207
Date of most recent change to record Dec 13 2000 12:13PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N1787R
NTSB Number LAX89FA010
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name CESSNA
Aircraft Model 182R
Aircraft Series Identifier 182R
Aircraft Serial Number R18200560
Certified Max Gross Weight 3100
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 Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Sep 3 1988 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 10
Airframe Hours 1218
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Yes
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name EUGENE E. URGO
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1007 FREEDOM BLVD #22
Aircraft Owner City WATSONVILLE
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 95076
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 FAT
Departure City FRESNO
Departure State CA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1715
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code WVI
Destination City WATSONVILLE
Destination State CA
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Approach
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:35AM
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 --