Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Caliente, California 93561
Friday, May 20, 2005 15:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane impacted terrain while cruising in controlled flight (CFIT) after the pilot(s) reversed course upon encountering instrument meteorological conditions. Both of the pilots held commercial pilot certificates, but neither were instrument-rated. The flight was performed to relocate the airplane to the pilot-owner's home base airport. No witnesses to the accident were identified. Visual meteorological conditions existed at the departure airport beneath an overcast sky condition. Based on an evaluation of the weather conditions, the projected route between the departure and destination, and the impact heading of the airplane, and as the terrain elevation increased, the pilots most likely encountered less maneuvering room between the terrain and the overlying clouds, and they would have inadvertently entered instrument meteorological conditions. The pilots reversed course to a westerly direction and commenced flying back toward their departure airport. The underlying terrain was also obscured by clouds, and the airplane's clearance from the terrain was inadequate, resulting in a collision with mountainous terrain. A motorist, who held a private pilot certificate and was driving in a westerly direction near the accident site, reported that the roadway "was foggy" and his visibility was at most 1 mile. The motorist stated his elevation was about 3,000 feet mean sea level (msl). An examination of the accident site, elevation 2,380 feet msl, revealed the airplane impacted upsloping terrain while in a right bank, and with a near level pitch attitude. Thereafter, the airplane cart wheeled. The distance between the initial point of impact and the farthest component of wreckage was nearly 800 feet. No evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunction was found.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadvertent encounter with instrument meteorological conditions and failure to maintain adequate terrain clearance, which resulted in controlled flight into the terrain. Contributing factors were the pilots' delayed decision to reverse course, the low clouds which obscured the rising terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/20/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Caliente |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93561 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 351720N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1183537W |
| 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 | 1454 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 277 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BFL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 507 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 24 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3100 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| 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) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.03 |
| 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) | 20170 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 21 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 29 2006 3:49PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Van Nuys, CA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6511N |
| NTSB Number | LAX05FA184 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bellanca |
| Aircraft Model | 14-13-3 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1630 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2100 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Robert L. Hedlund |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Tehachapi |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93561 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | O63 |
| Departure City | Exeter |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1300 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | TSP |
| Destination City | Tehachapi |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 2 2006 5:59PM |
| 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 | -- |