Piper PA-28-181 N81918
3 March 1986 · Newport Beach, California, United States · Fatal
Summary
On 3 March 1986 at about 07:12 local time, a Piper PA-28-181 registered N81918, operated by Aero Flight Center, was involved in an accident near Newport Beach, California, United States. 3 people were on board and 3 died. The aircraft was destroyed. No probable cause statement is available for this record.
The record
- Date
- at 07:12
- Classification
- Accident
- Location
- Newport Beach, California, United States
- Nearest airport
- John Wayne/Orange (SNA)
- Coordinates
- 33.6000, -117.8598
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-28-181
- Registration
- N81918
- Category
- Airplane
- Engines
- 1
- Operator
- Aero Flight Center
- Operating rule
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Purpose of flight
- Instructional
- Phase of flight
- Not recorded
- Route
- Santa Ana → Unknown
- Aircraft damage
- Destroyed
- Weather
- VMC
- Light
- Night/Dark
- NTSB number
- LAX86FA131
People
3 people died.
| On board | Died | Serious | Minor | Uninjured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Probable cause
The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. No probable cause statement is present in the source data.
Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.
Read the full NTSB narrative
THE ACFT WAS RPRTED TO BE ON A DUAL, NIGHT RECURRENT, TRAINING FLT. THE STUDENT PLT'S WIFE RPRTD THAT THE FLT INSTRUCTOR(CFI) & HER HUSBAND HAD BEEN DRINKING BEER BEFORE THEY & THE PASSENGER (ANOTHER STUDENT PLT) DEPARTED ON THE FLT. GROUND WITNESSES OBSERVED THE ACFT FLY VERY LOW OVER A PIER AT NEWPORT BEACH, THEN ENTER A RGT CLIMBING TURN. AS THE ACFT CONTINUED THE TURN, IT BEGAN A DESCENT & SUBSEQUENTLY CONTACTED THE OCEAN, CARTWHEELED & SANK. AN EXAM OF THE WRECKAGE REVEALED THE ACFT HAD IMPACTED IN A NOSE LOW, RGT WING LOW ATTITUDE. TOXICOLOGY EXAMS REVEALED THE STUDENT HAD A BLOOD/ALCOHOL LEVEL OF 0.11%, BUT ONLY A SLIGHT AMOUNT OF ALCOHOL (0.02%) WAS FOUND IN THE CFI'S BLOOD. TESTS FOR DRUGS SHOWED THE STUDENT HAD 0.32 MICROGRAMS/ML OF BENZOYLECGONINE IN HIS BLOOD. ALSO, IN 1 OF 2 TESTS FOR COCAINE, THE STUDENT'S BLOOD TESTED POSITIVE. TOXICOLOGY CHECKS OF THE PASSENGER FOR ALCOHOL & DRUGS WERE NEGATIVE. THE CFI HAD ONLY 392 HRS TOTAL FLT TIME.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.
Other Piper PA-28 accidents
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 Aug 1986 | Piper PA-28-161 | Lake Murray, Oklahoma, United States | Edward J. Calbridge | No injuries | - |
| 6 Jul 1986 | Piper PA-28-161 | Vacaville, California, United States | Air Wise Inc. | No injuries | - |
| 26 Jul 1986 | Piper PA-28-161 | Dodgeville, Wisconsin, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 12 Nov 1986 | Piper PA-28-150 | San Jose, California, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 27 Jul 1986 | Piper PA-28-181 | Traverse City, Michigan, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 6 Jul 1986 | Piper PA-28-180 | Seven Valleys, Pennsylvania, United States | - | Fatal | 2 |
All 9,402 records for this type
Other accidents in this area
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 Jun 1986 | Cessna 150 | Hesperia, California, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 1 Nov 1986 | Luscombe 8A | Half Moon Bay, California, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 28 Jun 1986 | Schleicher ASW-19 | Warner Springs, California, United States | Mark A. Miller | No injuries | - |
| 2 Nov 1986 | Learjet 24 | Lake Tahoe, California, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 30 Jun 1986 | Piper PA-18-150 | Ukiah, California, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 6 Nov 1986 | Beechcraft K35 | San Diego, California, United States | Dean Holt | Minor injuries | - |