Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Santa Ynez, California 93460
Saturday, February 4, 1989 10:45 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
DURING A CROSS COUNTRY FLIGHT, IN IMC, THE AIRPLANE SUDDENLY BEGAN TO DESCEND AT 2000 FPM. THE PILOT REPORTED THAT HE PULLED BACK ON THE YOKE UNTIL THE AIRPLANE STALLED, THEN PUSHED FORWARD ON THE YOKE TO REGAIN AIRSPEED. THE PILOT REPEATED THIS PROCEDURE THREE TIMES WITH THE AIRPLANE STILL DESCENDING IN AN ATTEMPT TO FLY OUT OF THE DOWNDRAFT CONDITION. DURING THE FOURTH ATTEMPT, THE AIRPLANE ENTERED A SPIN. THE PILOT WAS ABLE TO REGAIN CONTROL APRX 200 FT AGL. AT THIS TIME THE PILOT COULD SEE THE GROUND AND INITIATED A FORCED LANDING. DURING THE LANDING ROLL IN AN OPEN FIELD, THE AIRPLANE COLLIDED WITH ROUGH TERRAIN. THE PILOT HAD OBTAINED A LIMITED WEATHER BRIEFING FROM THE AUTOMATED WEATHER ANSWERING SERVICE.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO OBTAIN AN ADEQUATE PREFLIGHT WEATHER BRIEFING OR TO OBTAIN INFLIGHT WEATHER ADVISORY INFORMATION, AND THE FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO MAINTAIN FLYING SPEED WHILE DESCENDING IN A DOWNDRAFT.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/4/1989 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1045 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | SANTA YNEZ |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93460 |
| 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 | Partial - limited by briefer |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 200 |
| 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) | 1 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 260 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 50 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 236 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 4 1989 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1215 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 38554 |
| 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 | N98564 |
| NTSB Number | LAX89LA102 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 172P |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 172P |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17276310 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 2 1988 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1651 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AIR TORRANCE PARTNERSHIP 2 |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 25321 BELLANCA WAY |
| Aircraft Owner City | TORRANCE |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 90505 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | SOUTHWEST SKYWAYS, INC. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| 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 | TOA |
| Departure City | TORRANCE |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 850 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SBP |
| Destination City | SAN LUIS OBISPO |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| 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 | -- |