Piper PA-32-300 N4018W

Summary

On 3 October 1993 at about 21:15 local time, a Piper PA-32-300 registered N4018W, operated by Long Beach Flying Club, was involved in an accident near Kernville, 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.

Date

3 October 1993 at 21:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Kernville, California, United States

Coordinates

35.7295, -118.3903

Aircraft

Piper PA-32-300

Registration

N4018W

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Long Beach Flying Club

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → La Verne

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX94FA005

3 people died.

the pilot's inadvertent flight into a box canyon and his failure to attain a safe altitude. A factor in the accident was the pilot's lack of familiarity with the geographic area.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The recently certificated commercial pilot was attending a junior college flying team orientation session and practice safety and flight evaluation conference with two student passengers. At the completion of the event, all aircraft departed in VFR flight conditions for the same destination. Several different routes were flown by the different aircraft through the mountainous terrain. There were three canyon type routes on a more direct course toward the destination. All three had a road in the center of the canyon. On the sectional chart, the preferred canyon route with the lowest terrain was the only one shown with a road depicted. After takeoff, the accident flight followed a road and entered a canyon immediately to the north of the preferred route. The canyon gradually narrowed and eventually ended with an abrupt rise in terrain into a box canyon. The wreckage was found about 2,000 feet below the top of the surrounding terrain.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.