Plane Crash List

Piper PA-32-300 N6198H

12 October 1988 · Santa Maria, California, United States · Fatal

Summary

On 12 October 1988 at about 17:07 local time, a Piper PA-32-300 registered N6198H was involved in an accident near Santa Maria, California, United States. 3 people were on board and 3 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

The record

Date
at 17:07
Classification
Accident
Location
Santa Maria, California, United States
Nearest airport
Santa Maria (SMX)
Coordinates
34.8199, -120.4091
Aircraft
Piper PA-32-300
Registration
N6198H
Category
Airplane
Engines
1
Operator
Not recorded
Operating rule
Part 91: General Aviation
Purpose of flight
Business
Phase of flight
Not recorded
Route
Fallbrook → Unknown
Aircraft damage
Destroyed
Weather
IMC
Light
Day
NTSB number
LAX89FA013

People

3 people died.

On board Died Serious Minor Uninjured
3 3 0 0 0

Probable cause

THE PILOT FAILED TO FOLLOW THE CORRECT I.F.R. PROCEDURES WHEREAS HE DESCENDED BELOW THE FINAL APPROACH FIX ALTITUDE.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

DRG ARRIVAL, THE PLT WAS PROVIDED VECTORS FOR A LOCALIZER/DME BACKCOURSE-ALPHA APCH TO RWY 30. VECTORS WERE PROVIDED TO INTERCEPT THE LOCALIZER BEFORE REACHING THE FINAL APCH FIX (CAMCO), WHICH WAS 6 MI FROM THE RWY. ALSO, THE PLT WAS INSTRUCTED TO MAINTAIN 3500' UNTIL ESTABLISHED ON THE LOCALIZER. AT 1003:52, HE WAS ADZD THAT RADAR SVC WAS TERMINATED &TO CONTACT THE TOWER. AT 1006, HE CONTACTED THE TOWER & ACKNOWLEDGED INSTRUCTIONS TO RPRT AT CAMCO, THEN THERE WAS NO FURTHER COMMUNICATION WITH THE ACFT. SEARCH PROCEDURES WERE INITIATED & THE ACFT WAS SUBSEQUENTLY FOUND WHERE IT HAD CRASHED ABT 1/2 MI SW OF CAMCO AT AN ELEVATION OF APRX 1326'. MIN ALTITUDE FOR THE APCH WAS 3000' UNTIL PASSING CAMCO, THEN THE MIN ALTITUDE WAS 1680' UNTIL REACHING 'PATER' WHICH WAS 2.2 MI FROM THE RWY. NO PREIMPACT PART FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION OF THE ACFT OR ENG WAS FOUND. THE PILOT HAD LOGGED 5.4 ACTUAL INSTRUMENT HOURS AND 6 INSTRUMENT APPROACHES IN THE PRECEDING 6 MOS. HIS LOG DID NOT RECORD ANY EXPERIENCE WITH BACKCOURSE APPROACHES.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.

Other Piper PA-32 accidents

Date Aircraft Location Operator Outcome Died
1 Jul 1988 Piper PA-32-300
N1954H
Akron, New York, United States REX Miller Flying Service No injuries -
27 May 1988 Piper PA-32-300
N30289
Scottsdale, Arizona, United States West Valley Flying Club No injuries -
23 Nov 1988 Piper PA-32-300
N4194W
Meadows of Dan, Virginia, United States Jerry M. Jones Fatal 1
18 May 1988 Piper PA-32-260
N897P
Skwentna, Alaska, United States - Fatal 3
24 Nov 1988 Piper PA-32-260
N3662W
Marquette, Michigan, United States Northern Airmotive Partners Serious injuries -
28 Jan 1988 Piper PA-32-260
N1246T
Colorado Spring, Colorado, United States - No injuries -

All 1,695 records for this type

Other accidents in this area

Date Aircraft Location Operator Outcome Died
27 Jan 1988 Colman BD-4
N49RC
Half Moon Bay, California, United States
no coordinates
- Minor injuries -
4 Oct 1988 Cessna 182A
N5888B
Visalia, California, United States - No injuries -
28 Apr 1988 Cessna 150F
N6742F
Hayfork, California, United States - No injuries -
25 Feb 1988 Beechcraft A36
N23536
Ramona, California, United States Lancer Engineering Minor injuries -
1 May 1988 Cessna 180B
N5104E
Quincy, California, United States - No injuries -
9 Jul 1988 Hiller UH-12D
N646JS
Winterhaven, California, United States
no coordinates
- Minor injuries -

All 170,864 records in United States