Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Rialto Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rialto, California 92376
Sunday, April 1, 2001 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A flight school Cessna 172N was destroyed during a departure collision with communication wires and terrain at Rialto, California, about 0023 hours. The accident flight was returning to Hawthorne, California. The pilot had obtained a standard weather briefing at 2319, for the return flight. The pilot was advised of airmets for IFR ceiling and visibilities for his route of flight. The airplane had been the subject of an Federal Aviation Administration ALNOT, issued at 2210, for failure to cancel an instrument flight plan with Southern California Tracon from Hawthorne to Rialto, an uncontrolled airport. The pilot had obtained an FAA preflight weather briefing at 1551, for the flight to Rialto. According to the instrument flight plan information, the estimated time of arrival at Rialto had been 1845. Subsequently, the airplane was located at the Rialto airport parking ramp by county sheriff personnel. The ALNOT was canceled at 2240. The operator stated that the pilot and passenger had flown to Rialto to visit with friends and were to return to Hawthorne. The pilot was a flight instructor for the operator and was rated in airplane single engine land and instrument. They reported that he had accrued 650 total flight hours. Radar data was obtained from Southern California Tracon and a plot was generated by a private vendor for Cessna Aircraft Company. It shows the airplane circling back over the airport and heading northwest. The highest altitude before coverage is lost is 1,700 feet mean sea level.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's intentional visual flight into instrument meteorological conditions. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's improper weather evaluation and lack of total experience.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/1/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 23 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Rialto |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92376 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Rialto Municipal |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | L67 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.8 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 285 |
| Airport Elevation | 1455 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2353 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 225 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ONT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 943 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 11 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 700 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 2.5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| 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) | 29.92 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| 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) | 13083 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 1 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 130 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 29 2003 4:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO Riverside, CA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N739WE |
| NTSB Number | LAX01FA134 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172N |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17270858 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2300 |
| 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 | Mar 23 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 30 |
| Airframe Hours | 9300 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | M & S Air Supply |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3732 W 120th St. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Hawthorne |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 90250 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Security Aviation |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | L67 |
| Departure City | Rialto |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1220 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | HHR |
| Destination City | Hawthorne |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 18 2002 2:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 24 |
| Runway Length | 4500 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |