Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Julian, California 92036
Sunday, February 12, 1989 15:43 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE NON-INSTRUMENT RATED PILOT FIRST FILED AN IFR FLIGHT PLAN BEFORE OBTAINING A WEATHER BRIEFING. LIGHT TO MODERATE RIME ICING WAS FORECAST FROM 5,000 TO 16,000 FT. AT 1541 THE ARTCC CONTROLLER NOTICED THE MODE C ALTITUDE REPORT WAS 1,300 FT LOWER THAN THE ASSIGNED ALTITUDE OF 10,000 FT, AND DESCENDING. THE PILOT RESPONDED TO THE CONTROLLER'S INQUIRY THAT 'I CANNOT MAINTAIN ALTITUDE'. AT 1543 RADIO AND RADAR CONTACT WAS LOST. AN AIRLINE FLIGHT REPORTED PICKING UP MODERATE RIME ICE WHILE FLYING IN THE AREA OF THE ACCIDENT SITE. A GROUND WITNESS REPORTED THAT AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT A THUNDERSTORM WAS OVERHEAD, ACCOMPANIED BY LIGHTNING, THUNDER, HAIL, AND MODERATE SNOW AND RAIN SHOWERS. THE WITNESS ALSO HEARD A LOUD 'WINDING UP ENGINE SOUND FOLLOWED BY A LARGE BANG'. THE LAST PITOT STATIC SYSTEM TEST AND CALIBRATION WAS RECORDED ON 7/8/86. THE PILOT HAD RECEIVED ABOUT 44 HRS DUAL INSTRUMENT TRAINING DURING THE FIRST 6 MONTHS OF 1986.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PILOT'S POOR JUDGEMENT OF INTENTIONALLY FLYING INTO AN AREA OF KNOWN FORECAST ICING CONDITIONS WHICH RESULTED IN A LOSS OF CONTROL AND AN INFLIGHT BREAKUP OF THE AIRCRAFT. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS WERE THE PILOT'S OVERCONFIDENCE IN HIS PERSONAL ABILITY BY ATTEMPTING FLIGHT INTO INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS, AND THE ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/12/1989 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1543 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | JULIAN |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92036 |
| Event Date Year | 1989 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| 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 | 0 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1559 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 22 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TRM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 117 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 36 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 50 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Moderate |
| 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) | 1844 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 12 1989 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1745 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 40789 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 12:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9240P |
| NTSB Number | LAX89FA106 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-24-260 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-24-260 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 24-4739 |
| 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 5 1987 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 150 |
| Airframe Hours | 2879 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JOHN H. MALONEY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 7706 VALLEY WOOD DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | SACRAMENTO |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95828 |
| 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 | PSP |
| Departure City | PALM SPRINGS |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1502 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MYF |
| Destination City | SAN DIEGO |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent |
| 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 | 0 |
| Runway Width | 0 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |