Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Roy Williams Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Joshua Tree, California 92252
Tuesady, September 11, 2007 22:28 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot had informed his girlfriend that on the accident flight he was going to stay out longer than normal for night currency. Following the VFR night cross-country flight, the pilot initiated a descent for his destination airport. While descending, the airplane, in a wings-level attitude, struck hilly terrain 57 feet below the top of a 2,973 foot ridgeline. The accident flight was between two airports, which was a frequent flight for the pilot. Extracted GPS data confirmed a normal descent profile to the pilot's home airport. Due to a local power outage, which also impacted the airport, the pilot was descending without the benefit of the ground illumination. The pilot also had not reset his altimeter to the destination airports current altimeter setting, which resulted in the altimeter indicating a higher than actual altitude.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain terrain clearance during descent. Contributing to the accident were dark night conditions and mountainous terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/11/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 2228 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Joshua Tree |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92252 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 340908N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1161147W |
| Event Location Airport | Roy Williams Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | L80 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 3.4 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 2464 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2255 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 28 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | NXP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2051 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| 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) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 30 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| 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) | 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 24605 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA WP Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 13 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 14 2008 3:13PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Riverside, California |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N119G |
| NTSB Number | LAX07FA272 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | Y |
| 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 | Grumman American |
| Aircraft Model | AA-5 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | AA5-0324 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2200 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 2 |
| 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 | Jul 12 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 6 |
| Airframe Hours | 3919.5 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GEOFACTOR Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 501 W. 13th street |
| Aircraft Owner City | Wilmington |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19801 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | George F. Thornally |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Yucca Valley |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 92284 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | L35 |
| Departure City | Big Bear City |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2100 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | L80 |
| Destination City | Joshua Tree |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 16 2008 10:42AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |