Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Big Pine, California 93513
Thursday, December 21, 2006 13:00 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The certified flight instructor (CFI) and the pilot under instruction (PUI) were going on a series of cross-country flights to allow the PUI to build flight time. Motorists observed the wreckage near a road that was in the flat bottom of a canyon whose floor width varied from an estimated 50 yards at the narrowest point to 200 yards at the widest point. The canyon made several left and right turns as it wound its way uphill in a general southeasterly direction. The canyon sides appeared to be several hundred feet higher than the accident site elevation and the rim appeared to be about 100 feet higher at the head of the canyon. An evaluation of the ground scars and impact signatures on the wreckage disclosed that the airplane was in a left turn attempting to reverse course out of the box canyon when the left wing tip dug into the ground. The airplane then tumbled so that it was pointing down canyon when it came to rest. No evidence of a mechanical failure or malfunction was noted during the post accident inspection.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The inadequate in-flight/planning decision of both pilots to fly up a box canyon at low altitude, and their failure to maintain clearance from the terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/21/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1300 |
| 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 | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 370840N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1180726W |
| 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 | 1256 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 210 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BIH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4124 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 17 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| 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) | 7 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.14 |
| 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) | 23098 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 21 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 | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO Las Vegas, NV |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9141Y |
| NTSB Number | LAX07FA060 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-161 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-8616014 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2440 |
| 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 | Sep 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 9908 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | FLYING VIKINGS, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | HAYWARD |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94541 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Flying Vikings |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 21593 Skywest Dr |
| Operator City | Hayward |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 94541 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | BIH |
| Departure City | Bishop |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1240 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Undetermined |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 13 2008 4:28PM |
| 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 | -- |