Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Lake Elsinore, California 92530
Wednesday, April 3, 2002 21:05 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane collided with terrain while in cruise flight. The pilot completed three takeoff and landings at Long Beach, and departed for the French Valley Airport at Murrieta, California. He pilot followed the 91 Freeway eastbound and turned southbound to follow Interstate 15. As he started to climb from 2,600 feet, he obtained the Automated Weather Observation System (AWOS) information for French Valley. He noticed that he was off course, but was unable to see any ground visual references. He turned on the landing and taxi lights and tuned in two VOR (very high frequency omni-directional radio range) stations to try and determine his position. He was scanning for ground references and suddenly noted trees in his flight path. He applied full forward throttle and started a climb; however, the airplane collided with trees on mountainous terrain. The occupants were rescued the following morning.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot lost awareness of his location and collided with trees. Factors in the accident were the mountainous terrain and night conditions.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/3/2002
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 2105
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City LAKE ELSINORE
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 92530
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 4
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 --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 2053 Pacific Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 350
Weather Observation Facility ID RAL
Elevation of weather observation facility 818
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 13
Time Zone of the weather observation PST
Lighting Conditions Night
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 4
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 11
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 300
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.04
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 2
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 14310
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Apr 3 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2116
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Nov 25 2003 11:36AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-RAL-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N69000
NTSB Number LAX02LA124
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 Cessna
Aircraft Model 152
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 15282423
Certified Max Gross Weight 1670
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Oct 3 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 90
Airframe Hours 8070
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Yes
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name DARIUSH JAVADI
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City ORANGE
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 92865
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 LGB
Departure City LONG BEACH
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 2000
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code F70
Destination City MURRIETA
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Maneuvering
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Aug 18 2003 6:19PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --