Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Death Valley, California 92328
Monday, January 7, 1985 10:50 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PLT GOT AN EXTENDED WX FCST THE DAY PRIOR TO DEPARTURE WHICH INDICATED BKN TO OVC CLOUDS BASED AT ABOUT 8,000 FT FOR THE FIRST PART OF THE TRIP & SCT TO BKN CLOUDS FOR THE LAST HALF. MOUNTAIN AREAS WERE PREDICTED TO BE OBSCURED. PLT WAS ENCOURAGED TO CALL IN THE MORNING FOR A DETAILED UPDATE, HOWEVER, NO RECORD OF ANY CONTACT WAS FOUND. NO FLT PLAN WAS FILED & THE ACFT DEPARTED AT ABOUT 0900 HRS ON AN UNKNOWN ROUTE FOR THE DESTINATION. THE ACFT WRECKAGE WAS LOCATED BY ELT SIGNAL & SEARCH ACFT AT 6,200 FT MSL ON A MOUNTAIN SIDE AT THE END OF A BOX CANYON. A WITNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE CANYON (ABOUT 4,000 FT MSL) REPORTED VISIBILITY 100 FT IN FOG & RAIN AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT. WX CONDITIONS ALONG THE GENERAL ROUTE OF FLT WERE WORSE THAN THE FCST PLT RECEIVED THE DAY PRIOR, WITH CEILINGS IN 3,000 FT RANGE & TOPS TO 22,000. DESTINATION APRT WAS ONE-QUARTER MILE IN SNOW AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT. THE WX CONDITIONS ON THE DAY OF THE ACCIDENT WERE ACCURATELY REPORTED IN WX INFO AVAILABLE TO THE PLT
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/7/1985 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1050 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | DEATH VALLEY |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92328 |
| Event Date Year | 1985 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| 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 pilot |
| Investigator's weather source | Witness |
| 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 | 100 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Obscured |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 100 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 30 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 192 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 5200 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 722 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 8 1985 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1005 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 27946 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 9:14AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8889A |
| NTSB Number | LAX85FA100 |
| 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 | BEECH |
| Aircraft Model | B-35 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | B-35 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | D-2544 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2650 |
| 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 | Dec 7 1984 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 10 |
| Airframe Hours | 3467 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JAMES RENGERT |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 26381 MIMOSA LANE |
| Aircraft Owner City | MISSION VIEJO |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92691 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | CORONA AIRCRAFT INC. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 1903 AVIATION DR. |
| Operator City | CORONA |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 91720 |
| 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 | L66 |
| Departure City | CORONA |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 830 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 043 |
| Destination City | CARSON CITY |
| Destination State | NV |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:36AM |
| 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 | -- |