Zenair 601 N4073T

Summary

On 23 March 1997 at about 16:49 local time, a Zenair 601 registered N4073T was involved in an accident near Penn Valley, California, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

23 March 1997 at 16:49

Classification

Accident

Location

Penn Valley, California, United States

Coordinates

39.1790, -121.1999

Aircraft

Zenair 601

Registration

N4073T

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Grass Valley → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX97LA131

1 person died.

Loss of engine power for undetermined reasons. Factors in the accident were the pilot's lack of recent experience, lack of experience in the type aircraft, and physical impairment due to drugs.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

No witnesses observed the aircraft when it impacted terrain in a pasture. A witness who lives about 1 mile from the accident site reported that the aircraft's engine was cutting out as it flew over his location. Another witness, inside his home near the accident site, did not hear the engine at all; he reported hearing only a whoosh and a thump. The pilot purchased the aircraft 7 months prior and this was his first flight in the aircraft. He had not had any checkout, and according to his logbook, had not piloted an aircraft in the previous 4 months. The last maintenance entry in the aircraft logbook was an annual inspection performed 18 months prior. A toxicology analysis performed by the FAA's Civil Aeromedical Institute detected impairing amounts of the drug Diphenhydramine in the pilot's blood and urine.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.