Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Independence Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Independence, California 93526
Friday, July 28, 2006 15:27 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane collided with terrain in a box canyon during the en route climb. The planned route of flight was westbound over the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The pilot indicated that downdrafts from a mountain wave prevented the airplane from climbing. The airplane was in a box canyon, and she had no room to turn toward lower terrain. The pilot landed the airplane in a clearing near a road. The airplane sustained substantial damage in the rough terrain.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's inadequate preflight and in-flight planning regarding the selection of the altitude and route of flight, which resulted in a collision with terrain in a box canyon after encountering mountain wave.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/28/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1527 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Independence |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93526 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 344627N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1181917W |
| Event Location Airport | Independence |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 2O7 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 8 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 3900 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1556 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 350 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BIH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4124 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 37 |
| 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) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 50 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| 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 | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 22393 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 28 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 29 2007 8:02AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-Las Vegas FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N346D |
| NTSB Number | LAX06LA249 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | V35B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | D-10108 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3550 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 6 |
| Airframe Hours | 2545 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Rosemarie Pelfrey |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Oklahoma City |
| Aircraft Owner State | OK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 73115 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Rosemarie Pelfrey |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Oklahoma City |
| Operator State | OK |
| Operator Country | USA |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 2O7 |
| Departure City | Independence |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1510 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MAE |
| Destination City | Madera |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 4 2007 6:28PM |
| 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 | -- |