Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Redlands Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Redlands, California 92373
Wednesday, October 26, 1988 19:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE ARPT IS NEXT TO NORTON AFB. THE WEATHER ON THE DARK MOONLESS NIGHT WAS 1 MI VIS IN FOG AND HAZE. THE PLT COMPLETED AN ILS TO A LOW APPROACH AT NORTON AND RECEIVED A SPECIAL VFR CLEARANCE TO PROCEED TO REDLANDS. THE CIRCLING MDA FOR NORTON IS 1,700 FT MSL. NORTON AFB ELEV IS 1,100 FT MSL, AND THE REDLANDS AIRPORT ELEV IS 1,572 FT MSL. THE CIRCLING MDA FOR NORTON IS 138 FT ABOVE THE REDLANDS AIRPORT ARPT ELEV. THE RECORDED RADAR DATA SHOWED THAT THE FLT DESCENDED TO 1,800 FT ON THE ILS, THEN THE MODE C VARIED BETWEEN 1,700 AND 1,600 FT. THE LAST RADAR RETURN WAS ABOUT 1 MI FROM THE REDLANDS ARPT AT 1,600 FT MSL. A WITNESS ON THE AIRPORT SAW THE ACFT FLY OVER RUNWAY 8 IN A SOUTH TO NORTH DIRECTION, 'LOW AND FAST.' THE WITNESS HEARD THE CRASH SOUNDS IMMEDIATELY THEREAFTER. EVIDENCE AT THE ACCIDENT SITE REVEALED THE ACFT LEFT WING CONTACTED THE GROUND IN A 42 DEGREE LEFT BANK IN A SLIGHT NOSE DOWN ATTITUDE. FEW GROUND REFERENCE LIGHTS EXIST IN THE AREA AND THE PLT HAD MIN TTL NIGHT TIME.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PILOT'S INADVERTENT SELECTION OF AN INAPPROPRIATE ALTITUDE FOR THE ATTEMPTED NIGHT SPECIAL VFR CIRCLE TO LAND MANEUVER. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE DARK NIGHT, RESTRICTED VISIBILITIES AND LACK OF GROUND REFERENCE LIGHTS. ALSO CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE PILOT'S LIMITED TOTAL NIGHT EXPERIENCE.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/26/1988 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1900 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | REDLANDS |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92373 |
| 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 | REDLANDS MUNI |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | L12 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 346 |
| Airport Elevation | 1572 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1855 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 255 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SBD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1157 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 4 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Partial Obscuration |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Obscured |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 6000 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 1 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1000 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2434 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 26 1988 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1940 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 39440 |
| 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 | N79HW |
| NTSB Number | LAX89FA025 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA31P-350 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA31P-350 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 31P-8414021 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 7245 |
| 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 | 7 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 20 1988 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 48 |
| Airframe Hours | 660 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CHARLIE GILL ENTERPRISES, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1420 E. COOLEY DRIVE, STE 206 |
| Aircraft Owner City | COLTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92324 |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | IMP |
| Departure City | IMPERIAL |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1815 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | L12 |
| Destination City | REDLANDS |
| 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 | 8 |
| Runway Length | 4500 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |