Eastern Sierra Regional Airpor Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Big Pine, California 93513
Tuesady, January 17, 2006 20:30 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane impacted a hill about 34 miles north of the destination airport. The accident occurred under dark, nighttime, visual meteorological conditions. The airplane was en route on a 57-mile cross-country flight through a valley. The pilot frequently used the airplane to commute between the departure and destination points, accruing thousands of hours in the valley. The airplane wreckage was on a hill with about a 25-degree slope and located about 275 feet below the ridgeline's top. A heavily traveled highway was situated adjacent to the hill in the same north-south orientation as the route of flight. The wreckage distribution path was 400 feet long on a magnetic bearing of about 340 degrees. An examination of the impact ground scars disclosed that the airplane was in controlled flight in a near level configuration when it collided with the terrain. At the time of the accident, the moon was 3.7 degrees above the eastern horizon but blocked by mountains to the east. It is likely the lights from the automobiles on the highway would have been visible to the pilot, but there were no lights to distinguish the rising terrain. During the wreckage examination of the airframe's structure and the engine, no evidence of any preimpact failures or malfunctions was found.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's failure to maintain an adequate terrain clearance altitude during a cruise descent that resulted in controlled flight into terrain (CFIT). Factors in the accident were the rising mountainous terrain, the dark nighttime lighting condition.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/17/2006
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 2030
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City Big Pine
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 93513
Event Date Year 2006
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 370314N
Event Location Longitude 1181551W
Event Location Airport Eastern Sierra Regional Airpor
Event Location Nearest Airport ID BIH
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 23
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 4120
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 2056 Pacific Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 333
Weather Observation Facility ID BIH
Elevation of weather observation facility 4120
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 23
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) -1
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -2
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 270
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) 30.09
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) 20204
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jan 17 2006 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 Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-LAS-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N6034J
NTSB Number LAX06FA091
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 Cessna
Aircraft Model 182P
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 18263611
Certified Max Gross Weight 2950
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 Unknown
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed --
ELT Activated --
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Trueman Kirk Peek
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Lone Pine
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 93545
Operator is an individual? Yes
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 BIH
Departure City Bishop
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 2015
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code O26
Destination City Lone Pine
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 12 2006 6:33PM
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 --