Santa Barbara Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Santa Barbara, California 93105
Wednesday, November 10, 2004 22:01 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane collided with upsloping high mountainous terrain during level controlled cruise flight on a night cross-country. Prior to takeoff, the pilot informed the air traffic controller (ATC) that he had received the airport's weather. A broken sky condition existed with layers about 5,500 and 7,000 feet mean sea level (msl). When the pilot subsequently climbed from 4,900 to 5,200 feet and requested information from ATC about the elevation of the clouds, he acknowledged that he "seems to be in a little bit of clouds...sort of in and out." The pilot continued climbing into clearer conditions. The flight continued and the airplane tracked near the centerline of Victor Airway 183, which had a published course of 195 degrees. The pilot was familiar with the roundtrip route between his Santa Barbara home-base airport and Bakersfield, and he had previously flown over the route. During the last few minutes of the radar-recorded flight, the pilot was generally cruising about 6,500 feet, as indicated by the mode C altitude reporting transponder. The pilot was receiving radar flight following service from a controller at the Los Angeles Air Route Traffic Control Center. The controller observed the airplane and was aware that the minimum enroute altitude (MEA) for airplanes on instrument clearances along the airway was 9,000 feet. The controller and the pilot had sectional aeronautical charts available for use that depicted a 6,840-foot msl mountain peak along the flight route. The pilot's course did not vary as he approached and impacted the mountain during the dark nighttime flight. The bearing between the initial point of impact (IPI) and the Santa Barbara Municipal Airport was 197 degrees. Also, the bearing and distance between the IPI and the main wreckage was 198 degrees and 0.25 miles. The controller did not issue a terrain-related safety alert, as required by a Federal Aviation Administration order.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to select and maintain an adequate terrain avoidance cruise altitude. Contributing factors were the dark nighttime conditions, the rising mountainous terrain, and the Federal Aviation Administration controller's failure to issue a terrain-related safety alert.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 11/10/2004
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 2201
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City Santa Barbara
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 93105
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 11
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 344157N
Event Location Longitude 1193892W
Event Location Airport Santa Barbara Municipal
Event Location Nearest Airport ID SBA
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 19
Degrees magnetic from airport 17
Airport Elevation 10
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 2153 Pacific Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 197
Weather Observation Facility ID SBA
Elevation of weather observation facility 10
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 19
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) 10
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
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 3
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 3
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 19906
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Nov 11 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1000
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jun 28 2006 1:30PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Van Nuys, California

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N803ZG
NTSB Number LAX05FA032
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 Piper
Aircraft Model PA-32R-301T
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 3257357
Certified Max Gross Weight 3600
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 7
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 Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Yes
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name J. P. III Enterprises, Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 427 W. Pueblo Street
Aircraft Owner City Santa Barbara
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 93105
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Juan F. Padilla
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) Business
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code BFL
Departure City Bakersfield
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 2137
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code SBA
Destination City Santa Barbara
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 Apr 11 2006 5:39PM
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 --