Ukiah Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Ukiah, California 95842
Tuesady, May 1, 1984 13:15 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

DURING ARRIVAL, THE PLT WAS CLEARED FOR A LOC/DME RWY 15 APCH TO THE UKIAH ARPT. AT 1307 PDT, HE BEGAN THE APCH AT THE TUCCI INTERSECTION, 15.5 MI NORTH OF THE RWY. AT 1311:04 THE LAST RADAR CONTACT SHOWED THAT THE ACFT WAS ABOUT 5 MI NORTH OF THE ARPT. AT 1313, THE UKIAH FSS PERSONNEL REQUESTED THE ACFT'S POSITION & THE PLT REPORTED THAT HE WAS 5.5 MI ON THE DME (5.5 MI NORTH OF THE ARPT). THERE WERE NO FURTHER COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE ACFT. SUBSEQUENTLY, IT CRASHED ON RISING MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN ABOUT 4 MI SOUTH OF THE ARPT AT AN ELEVATION OF 200 FT. AN INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT THE DME WAS SELECTED TO THE #2 NAV RECEIVER WHICH WAS TUNED TO THE UKIAH VOR, LOCATED ABOUT 6 MI SOUTH-SOUTHEAST OF THE ARPT. FOR THE APCH, THE DME SHOULD HAVE BEEN SELECTED ON THE #1 NAV RECEIVER WHICH WAS TUNED TO THE LOC/DME AT THE ARPT. THE 1324 WX AT UKIAH WAS 1000 FT OBSCURED, VISIBILITY 1 1/2 MI WITH LIGHT RAIN & FOG, WIND 130 DEG AT 8 KTS.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/1/1984
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1315
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City UKIAH
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 95842
Event Date Year 1984
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport UKIAH
Event Location Nearest Airport ID UKI
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 4
Degrees magnetic from airport 150
Airport Elevation 616
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1324 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 330
Weather Observation Facility ID UKI
Elevation of weather observation facility 616
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 4
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 1000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Obscured
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) 11
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 10
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 130
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) 30
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Light
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) 966
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time 0
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 24707
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 9:15AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N63813
NTSB Number LAX84FA277
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-23-250
Aircraft Series Identifier PA-23-250
Aircraft Serial Number 27-7754137
Certified Max Gross Weight 5200
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 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Apr 5 1984 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 8
Airframe Hours 418
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name WALTER F. BURKE
Aircraft Owner Street Address 15 CARMEL BAY DRIVE
Aircraft Owner City CORONA DEL MAR
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 92625
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 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) Personal
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 935
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code UKI
Destination City UKIAH
Destination State CA
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Approach
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 15
Runway Length 5005
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --