Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Long Beach Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Long Beach, California 90807
Sunday, November 29, 1987 18:43 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
DURING THE RETURN FLIGHT TO SAN JOSE AND SUBSEQUENT DESCENT AND APPROACH TO THE LONG BEACH AIRPORT, THE TWO PILOTS EXPERIENCED, IN SUCCESSION, A FAILURE OF THE TURBOCHARGER SYSTEM, LOSS OF AN ALTERNATOR, LOSS OF ENGINE OIL PRESSURE, AN UNSAFE LANDING GEAR INDICATION, AND AN IN-FLIGHT FIRE FOLLOWED BY THE LOSS OF ENGINE POWER DURING A NIGHT TIME CIRCLING APPROACH TO AN UNFAMILIAR AIRPORT IN VISUAL METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS. THE AIRCRAFT CRASHED ONTO THE SOUTHBOUND LANES OF THE SAN DIEGO FREEWAY AT LONG BEACH AFTER MAKING A FLYBY OF THE TOWER TO CONFIRM THE LANDING GEAR POSITION. THE INVESTIGATION REVEALED AN IMPROPERLY INSTALLED TURBOCHARGER, A CRACKED MANIFOLD EXHAUST, A BURNED MAIN POWER LEAD, A SEPARATED CYLINDER, AND A LOW FLUID LEVEL IN THE HYDRAULIC RESERVOIR. TWO YEARS PRIOR TO THIS ACCIDENT, THE INSTRUCTOR PILOT MADE AN UNINTENTIONAL GEAR UP LANDING IN ANOTHER ACFT. ONE YEAR PRIOR TO THIS ACCIDENT THE FAA REVOKED THE MECHANIC'S INSPECTION AUTHORIZATION.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
PILOT'S FAILURE TO LAND THE AIRCRAFT AFTER EXPERIENCING THE PILOT'S FAULTY DECISION WAS HIS PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE WITH A GEAR UP LANDING A COUPLE OF YEARS BEFORE.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/29/1987 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1843 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | LONG BEACH |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 90807 |
| Event Date Year | 1987 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | LONG BEACH |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LGB |
| 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 | 57 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1848 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LGB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 57 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| 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) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2653 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 29 1987 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1900 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 40091 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 2:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4369V |
| NTSB Number | LAX88FA060 |
| 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 and In-flight |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground and In-flight |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-46 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-46 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 46-8408076 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4100 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 22 1987 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | LAWRENCE J & SANDRA M HOFFART |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1570 THE ALEMEDA SUITE, 308 |
| Aircraft Owner City | SAN JOSE |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95126 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | MILLION AIR |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 1311 AIRPORT BLVD. |
| Operator City | SAN JOSE |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 95110 |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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 | CRQ |
| Departure City | CARLSBAD |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1752 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SJC |
| Destination City | SAN JOSE |
| 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 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 30 |
| Runway Length | 10000 |
| Runway Width | 200 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |