Plane Crash List

Piper PA-28-140 N5809U

13 October 1990 · Agua Dulce, California, United States · Serious injuries

Summary

On 13 October 1990 at about 20:58 local time, a Piper PA-28-140 registered N5809U, operated by R.i. Flying Club, was involved in an accident near Agua Dulce, California, United States. 2 people were on board and one was seriously injured, one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

The record

Date
at 20:58
Classification
Accident
Location
Agua Dulce, California, United States
Coordinates
34.4299, -118.5109
Aircraft
Piper PA-28-140
Registration
N5809U
Category
Airplane
Engines
1
Operator
R.i. Flying Club
Operating rule
Part 91: General Aviation
Purpose of flight
Personal
Phase of flight
Not recorded
Route
Unknown → Lancaster
Aircraft damage
Substantial
Weather
VMC
Light
Day
NTSB number
LAX91LA009

People

1 person was seriously injured.

On board Died Serious Minor Uninjured
2 0 1 1 0

Probable cause

A FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO PERFORM PREFLIGHT PLANNING.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

DURING INITIAL CLIMB TOWARDS RISING TERRAIN, THE PILOT NOTICED HE WAS NOT VERY HIGH BUT SENSED NO IMMEDIATE DANGER. HE STATED HE PLANNED TO NAVIGATE THROUGH A LOWER PASS IN THE HILLS BUT NOTICED HIS RATE OF CLIMB WAS VERY LOW AND HE COULD NOT IMPROVE IT. HE STATED THE TERRAIN WAS RISING FASTER THAN HE WAS. ACCORDING TO PIPER AIRCRAFT COMPANY CALCULATIONS, THE AIRCRAFT WAS LOADED 3/4/ OF AN INCH FORWARD OF THE MAXIMUM FORWARD CENTER OF GRAVITY LIMIT OF THE AIRCRAFT. CALCULATIONS ESTABLISHED THAT THE TERRAIN ROSE AT A RATE OF 450 FEET PER MILE WHILE THE MAXIMUM CLIMB RATE OF THE AIRCRAFT WAS 375 FEET PER MILE.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.

Other Piper PA-28 accidents

Date Aircraft Location Operator Outcome Died
12 Dec 1990 Piper PA-28-151
N4480F
Jupiter, Florida, United States Zimmerman, Barry L. No injuries -
24 Apr 1990 Piper PA-28-161
N2110D
Chandler, Arizona, United States Chandler Air Service No injuries -
20 May 1990 Piper PA-28-181
N24PT
East Lansing, Michigan, United States J. J. Tiefenthaler Fatal 1
8 Apr 1990 Piper PA-28-140
N5628U
Forsyth, Montana, United States - Serious injuries -
3 Feb 1990 Piper PA-28-161
N473FT
Sebastian, Florida, United States FL Institute of Technology Fatal 1
14 Feb 1990 Piper PA-28-161
N8432P
Roseland, Florida, United States
no coordinates
PRO Flite of Vero, Inc. No injuries -

All 9,402 records for this type

Other accidents in this area

Date Aircraft Location Operator Outcome Died
15 Apr 1990 Cessna 180
N9394C
Soledad, California, United States - No injuries -
10 Oct 1990 Cessna 150
N68350
Riverside, California, United States PAR Flight No injuries -
17 Apr 1990 Piper PA46
N4387S
Paso Robles, California, United States Piper Aircraft Corp. No injuries -
7 Oct 1990 Cessna 182M
N70892
Bakersfield, California, United States - No injuries -
1 Apr 1990 Piper J-3
N7363H
Creston, California, United States - Minor injuries -
11 Oct 1990 Bell 47G4
N477JM
Merced, California, United States John W. Myers Serious injuries -

All 170,864 records in United States