Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Palm Springs, California 92262
Sunday, May 15, 2005 10:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane collided with mountainous terrain in a box canyon while attempting to reverse course. The pilot originally indicated that he would fly westbound direct to a navigation fix at 8,500 feet, and then direct to his destination airport. After takeoff, the controller instructed him to fly a heading of 280 degrees to provide clearance for a jet departure behind him. The pilot then changed to a southbound departure to another landmark with the intention of proceeding direct to his destination airport. The pilot contacted departure control that he was at 1,800 feet, and climbing to 8,500 feet. They informed him that they had radar contact, and instructed him to resume his own navigation. The pilot turned west, and then south to approximately 190 degrees. As he passed the western end of a landmark street near the airport, he turned to the west, up the accident canyon. The radar track showed the airplane heading about 280 degrees at a mode C reported altitude of 2,700 feet msl. The last radar return had the airplane turning left at 3,100 feet, in an area of steeply rising terrain to the west, about 0.7 miles north of the accident site. The airplane came to rest on an easterly heading on the south side of the canyon. The nose of the airplane abutted a rock face. After disassembling the engine, investigators did not discover any anomalies that would have prevented normal engine operation and production of rated horsepower.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate in-flight planning/decision, and his failure to maintain clearance while maneuvering in rising terrain, resulting in an in-flight collision with terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/15/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1000 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Palm Springs |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92262 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 334731N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1163516W |
| 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 | 953 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PSP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 477 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 34 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.79 |
| 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) | 22046 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 16 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 14 2007 2:53PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO Riverside, CA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N333LP |
| NTSB Number | LAX05FA175 |
| 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 | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 182M |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18259968 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2800 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1.9 |
| Airframe Hours | 3962.9 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Daniel P Espensen |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Desert Hot Springs |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92240 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Garold A. Miller |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Palm Springs |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 92264 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | PSP |
| Departure City | Palm Springs |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 953 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SNA |
| Destination City | Santa Ana |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb - to cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 30 2007 5:24PM |
| 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 | -- |