Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ojai, California 93023
Sunday, June 30, 2002 11:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane collided with mountainous terrain while maneuvering through a box canyon; it was the second airplane of a group of airplanes. The group consisted of eight airplanes that were traveling together; there were three groups of airplanes with three airplanes in two groups, and two airplanes in one group. The first group, containing three airplanes with this airplane second behind the lead, descended to an estimated 500 to 1,000 feet above ground level (agl), and proceeded up a canyon. The lead proceeded to descend into the canyon and the other airplanes followed about 500 feet behind. The pilot of the number three airplane in the group estimated that he was about 200 feet above the leader's altitude and number two airplane was between them. He noticed that number two was getting closer to the leader, and he was closing in on number two. As the airplanes proceeded toward the end of the canyon, the pilot of the number three airplane became concerned about terrain clearance and decided to exit the formation. A few seconds later, the number three pilot initiated a hard pull up to the left and began to climb. He completed about 15 degrees of turn and saw the lead airplane collide with trees and terrain at his 2 o'clock position. The number two airplane was a little to the right of the lead when it collided with the terrain. Both airplanes came to rest within 75 feet of each other at the head of the canyon at an estimated elevation of 4,925 feet, about 400 feet below the crest of the saddle at the end of the canyon. The lead airplane was N156U, a Beech V35A; see NTSB report LAX02FA211.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's inadequate in-flight planning and failure to maintain an adequate terrain clearance altitude within the canyon.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/30/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1100 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | OJAI |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93023 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 343330N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1192807W |
| 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 | 1053 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 220 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SBA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 12 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 23 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 700 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 700 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 9 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.97 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 3270 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19659 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 30 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1159 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 30 2006 1:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-VNY-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N576Q |
| NTSB Number | LAX02FA212 |
| 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 | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | S35 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | D-7605 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3300 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | DENNIS J GIANGRECO |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | North Hills |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 91343 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | VNY |
| Departure City | VAN NUYS |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1030 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | L52 |
| Destination City | Oceano |
| 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 | Mar 15 2006 6:25PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |