Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Inyokern, California 93527
Tuesady, March 6, 2001 22:00 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The amateur-built, airplane impacted mountainous terrain in dark night conditions after experiencing a loss of engine power while in cruise flight at 13,000 feet. The airline transport pilot obtained a weather briefing prior to departing on a visual flight rules (VFR) flight. During the briefing, the pilot was advised that VFR flight was not recommended and that flight precautions existed for icing conditions above 7,000 feet, the potential for mountain obscurement, cloud layers predominant through the route of flight and the chance of widespread rain. The pilot reported experiencing weather during his flight and the air traffic controller asked him if they wanted to continue in instrument flight conditions (IMC). The pilot stated he would like to continue in IMC and indicated if he encountered icing conditions he would "ask for a 180" and divert to another airport. Later during the flight, the pilot told the air traffic controller he was encountering snow. He called the controller again and reported he was experiencing a rough running engine and that he wanted to divert to a nearby airport and declare an emergency. The controller then issued radar vectors to the airport. The pilot continued to ask for and received terrain information as he descended past 5,000 feet. Radar data and communications were then lost. The airplane was found on the side of a mountain ridge at 4,700 feet.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the in-flight collision with mountainous terrain during a forced landing following a loss of engine power resulting from the pilot's inadequate weather evaluation, continued flight into icing weather conditions, his delay in carburetor heat use, and his delay in diverting to an alternate airport.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/6/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 2200 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Inyokern |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93527 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 353828N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1175554W |
| 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 | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2138 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 59 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KNID |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2283 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 11 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Bright |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2900 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 6 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.06 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1841 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Moderate |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12992 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 6 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2225 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 18 2003 4:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-VNY-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N46KA |
| NTSB Number | LAX01LA110 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Jones |
| Aircraft Model | RV-6A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 60157 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1800 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 6 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 216.2 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | David Bruce Jones |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Henderson |
| Aircraft Owner State | NV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 89015 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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 | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | TOA |
| Departure City | Torrance |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2100 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MMH |
| Destination City | Mammoth Lakes |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 29 2003 4:27PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |