Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Dulzura, California 91917
Friday, April 22, 2005 15:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During a daytime cross-country flight, the airplane collided with upsloping mountainous terrain while in controlled flight and in instrument meteorological conditions. The pilot had departed San Diego, California, in trail behind an acquaintance who was also flying an RV6 airplane. They intended to fly in a loose formation to Arizona, and were communicating with each other via the common air-to-air radio frequency. The lead airplane pilot, who was instrument rated, reported that during his climb scattered and broken clouds were observed, but he eventually climbed on top and had over 3 miles forward visibility. After not hearing from the accident pilot for several minutes, the lead pilot returned to the departure airport, and a search was initiated. The accident pilot was not instrument rated. The accident airplane was found to have crashed about 0.5 miles north of the peak of the Otay Mountain, about 6.7 miles east of the departure airport. The initial point of impact elevation was 2,770 feet mean sea level (msl), and the peak elevation of the mountain was 3,566 feet msl. The departure airport, elevation 526 feet msl, reported its weather, in part, as 10 miles visibility, broken ceiling at 1,600 feet above ground level (agl), and overcast at 2,300 feet agl. An examination of the accident site revealed an estimated 150-foot-long ground swath leading to the main wreckage, which was fragmented and upside down. No evidence of any preimpact malfunction was found. The ground scar was consistent with the airplane having impacted the estimated 15-degree upsloping terrain while in a near wings level flight attitude. A global positioning satellite receiver was found in the wreckage. The last recorded elevation data on the GPS was 2,393 feet msl. The airplane's last position recorded by FAA radar was 3.8 miles west of the crash site, and its last position recorded by GPS was 1.9 miles west of the crash site. The airplane's track, from takeoff to impact, was principally in an easterly direction toward the pilot's destination in Arizona.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's continued visual flight into instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in an in-flight collision with rising mountainous terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/22/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Dulzura |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 91917 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 323517N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1165100W |
| 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 | Partial - limited by pilot |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1453 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 249 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SDM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 526 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2300 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1600 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 260 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.06 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19665 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 23 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1600 |
| 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 | San Diego, CA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N426BB |
| NTSB Number | LAX05LA144 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bishop |
| Aircraft Model | RV6A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 23405 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| 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 | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 1 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 867 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Charles W. Bishop |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | On File |
| Aircraft Owner City | Houston |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 77018 |
| 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 | SDM |
| Departure City | San Diego |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1452 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | E95 |
| Destination City | Benson |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 23 2006 5:24PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |