Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Wrightwood, California 92397
Sunday, April 23, 2006 11:18 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot departed under visual flight rules (VFR) for a planned cross country flight over mountainous terrain. During the climb to cruise phase, the pilot requested and received VFR radar flight following service. He also requested from the controller a cloud top report. The controller replied that he did not have a report for the geographic area. Radar data showed that the pilot continued climbing in a southerly direction toward rising mountainous terrain until reaching 10,200 feet msl. Then, over the next few minutes the airplane gradually descended and made a left, 270-degree turn. The pilot informed the controller that he had gotten himself "in the soup" and was trying "to get out of it." The controller advised the pilot that the minimum vectoring altitude for the area was 11,600 feet. No response was received from the pilot. The radar data showed that during this time the airplane descended and impacted a mountaintop near the 8,000-foot msl elevation. A skier, who was located less than 3/4-mile from the accident site at 7,000 feet msl, reported hearing the sound of an engine which abruptly stopped with a "thud" sound. The skier reported he was unable to see the sky because the clouds covered the mountaintop. An examination of the airframe and engine did not reveal evidence of any mechanical malfunction. The ground scars and wreckage signatures showed the airplane was in controlled flight when the ground collision occurred.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper decision to continue VFR flight into instrument meteorological weather conditions, which resulted in controlled flight into mountainous terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/23/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1118 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Wrightwood |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92397 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 342148N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1174124W |
| 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 | 1058 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 34 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | VCV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2885 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 22 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 9000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 12 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.99 |
| 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) | 23037 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 23 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 28 2008 3:59PM |
| 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 | N2620S |
| NTSB Number | LAX06FA148 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | T337C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 337-0920 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4500 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| 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 | -- |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Prospal Construction Corp. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2650 Jamacha Rd. #147 |
| Aircraft Owner City | El Cajon |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92019 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Richard E. Prospal |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Spring Valley |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 91977 |
| 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 | WJF |
| Departure City | Lancaster |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1052 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SEE |
| Destination City | San Diego |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 4 2008 5:18PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| 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 | -- |