Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
John Wayne/Orange Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Newport Beach, California 92625
Sunday, March 2, 1986 23:12 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE ACFT WAS RPRTED TO BE ON A DUAL, NIGHT RECURRENT, TRAINING FLT. THE STUDENT PLT'S WIFE RPRTD THAT THE FLT INSTRUCTOR(CFI) & HER HUSBAND HAD BEEN DRINKING BEER BEFORE THEY & THE PASSENGER (ANOTHER STUDENT PLT) DEPARTED ON THE FLT. GROUND WITNESSES OBSERVED THE ACFT FLY VERY LOW OVER A PIER AT NEWPORT BEACH, THEN ENTER A RGT CLIMBING TURN. AS THE ACFT CONTINUED THE TURN, IT BEGAN A DESCENT & SUBSEQUENTLY CONTACTED THE OCEAN, CARTWHEELED & SANK. AN EXAM OF THE WRECKAGE REVEALED THE ACFT HAD IMPACTED IN A NOSE LOW, RGT WING LOW ATTITUDE. TOXICOLOGY EXAMS REVEALED THE STUDENT HAD A BLOOD/ALCOHOL LEVEL OF 0.11%, BUT ONLY A SLIGHT AMOUNT OF ALCOHOL (0.02%) WAS FOUND IN THE CFI'S BLOOD. TESTS FOR DRUGS SHOWED THE STUDENT HAD 0.32 MICROGRAMS/ML OF BENZOYLECGONINE IN HIS BLOOD. ALSO, IN 1 OF 2 TESTS FOR COCAINE, THE STUDENT'S BLOOD TESTED POSITIVE. TOXICOLOGY CHECKS OF THE PASSENGER FOR ALCOHOL & DRUGS WERE NEGATIVE. THE CFI HAD ONLY 392 HRS TOTAL FLT TIME.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/2/1986 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 2312 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | NEWPORT BEACH |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92625 |
| Event Date Year | 1986 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | JOHN WAYNE/ORANGE |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SNA |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 6 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 204 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2255 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 24 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SNA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 54 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2800 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2800 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1078 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 2 1986 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2345 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 31420 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 3:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N81918 |
| NTSB Number | LAX86FA131 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-181 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28-181 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 27-8090288 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2450 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 30 1986 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 30 |
| Airframe Hours | 796 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | LYNN R. ROWBOTHAM |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 177F RIVERSIDE AVENUE |
| Aircraft Owner City | NEWPORT BEACH |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92663 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | AERO FLIGHT CENTER |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 19531 S. AIRPORT WAY |
| Operator City | SANTA ANA |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 92707 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | SNA |
| Departure City | SANTA ANA |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 2230 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| 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 | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |