Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Big Pine, California 93513
Wednesday, January 21, 2004 8:45 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During cruise flight on a clear VFR day, the airplane collided with top of a ridgeline in a wing and nose level attitude. A post-impact fire destroyed the fuselage and forward cockpit areas. The pilot's normal workweek was Monday through Friday. Family members said he would leave his residence each day around 0530 in order to report to operations at the required 0600 time, and return home around 2030 each evening at the conclusion of his shift; going to bed around 2300. A captain who had flown with the accident pilot during the pilot's initial training (the accident pilot was observing en route procedures) indicated that during two flights, both from Inyokern to Bishop (the general area of the accident), the accident pilot had fallen asleep. The first time the accident pilot stated that he was tired and asked if it would be okay if he slept for a little bit. The second time, he just went to sleep. Both naps lasted between 20-30 minutes. A dispatcher working the night shift on January 20th reported that the accident pilot was 2.5 hours late returning to Burbank. The pilot was scheduled to be back at 1700, but had encountered adverse weather at Mammoth and did not return to the company base until 1930. The dispatcher reported that the accident pilot looked "beat up," like he had had a rough flight. According to the operator, the airplane was equipped with an autopilot. Due to the thermal damage to the airplane, the autopilot was not recovered. No discrepancies were noted with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
failure of the pilot to maintain clearance with mountainous terrain for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/21/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 845 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Big Pine |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93513 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 370623N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1181757W |
| 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 845 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 335 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BIH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4124 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 34 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| 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) | -6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.33 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 22747 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 21 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 950 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 30 2007 3:42PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-LAS-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8701E |
| NTSB Number | LAX04FA102 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-32R-300 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32R-7680160 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 1 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1 |
| Airframe Hours | 11246 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Ameriflight, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4700 Empire Ave. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Burbank |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 91505 |
| 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 | JIKA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| 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 | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | IYK |
| Departure City | Inyokern |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 800 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | BIH |
| Destination City | Bishop |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 26 2007 2:16PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| 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 | -- |