Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Big Bear Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Big Bear City, California 92314
Friday, November 21, 2003 21:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While flying on a moonless night in mountainous terrain to an airport in a mountain valley, the aircraft encountered mountain wave conditions and downdrafts in the 500 to 1,000 foot-per-minute range, which resulted in a collision with mountainous terrain. The two-man aircrew participated in a Civil Air Patrol (CAP) search and rescue training exercise (SAREX) being held over the weekend, and had flown from the mountain valley airport along the accident route of flight that morning. The CAP group was informed that high winds were expected the following day and flying operations might be cancelled. The aircrew decided to return to their home base in a small mountain town (elev: 6,748 feet) instead of staying at the SAREX base for the night. The aircrew had commented to the CAP Incident Commander that they had experienced some moderate turbulence on the flight out of the mountains severe enough to have their heads hit the cockpit canopy and toss a cell phone out of the passenger's shirt pocket. They departed the SAREX base at night and there was no moon illumination at the time they approached the 8,000-9,000 foot mountain ridgeline. The airplane approached the mountains at 10,300 feet, and shortly thereafter entered a mountain wave, and experienced turbulence and downdrafts. Radar data showed that the airplane steadily descended through 8,000 feet during the last 4 minutes of the flight. The airplane impacted the side of the mountain at the 6,970 foot elevation with low energy, in a very steep left turn; left wing down. Analysis of the weather conditions established that mountain wave conditions existed at 9,000 feet with a wavelength of 2.79 miles, amplitude of 717 feet, and a maximum vertical velocity of 1,185 fpm. This wave had a potential for moderate to severe turbulence. There is no record that the pilot requested or received a weather briefing. At the cruise altitude of the airplane, the performance charts show that it had a maximum climb capability of about 400 feet per minute.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilots inadequate preflight planning and intentional flight into known adverse weather conditions. Contributing to this accident was the fact that it was a dark night with no moon illumination.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/21/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 2100 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Big Bear City |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92314 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 341528N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1164172W |
| Event Location Airport | Big Bear |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | L35 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 9 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 40 |
| Airport Elevation | 6748 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2020 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 259 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | L35 |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6748 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 9 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 3 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 12 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.12 |
| 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) | 16986 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 22 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1730 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 28 2004 12:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO-Riverside, CA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7292W |
| NTSB Number | LAX04GA051 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Public Use |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Unknown Origin |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-1136 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2600 |
| 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 | Jul 1 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 4364 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | John Lawrence |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 913 Michael Ave |
| Aircraft Owner City | Big Bear City |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92314 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | CIVIL AIR PATROL |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 105 S Hansell St, Bld 714 |
| Operator City | Maxwell AFB |
| Operator State | AL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 39112 |
| Operator Code | C99M |
| 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) | Public Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PSP |
| Departure City | Palm Springs |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2028 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | L35 |
| Destination City | Big Bear City |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering - turn to reverse direction |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 5 2004 7:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | RICJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |