Victor Marsh MARSH 1 N166VP
21 March 1998 · Lone Pine, California, United States · No injuries
Summary
On 21 March 1998 at about 20:00 local time, a Victor Marsh MARSH 1 registered N166VP was involved in an accident near Lone Pine, California, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. 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 20:00
- Classification
- Accident
- Location
- Lone Pine, California, United States
- Coordinates
- 36.5600, -118.0496
- Aircraft
- Victor Marsh MARSH 1
- Registration
- N166VP
- Category
- Airplane
- Engines
- 1
- Operator
- Not recorded
- Operating rule
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Purpose of flight
- Personal
- Phase of flight
- Not recorded
- Route
- Unknown → Tracy
- Aircraft damage
- Substantial
- Weather
- VMC
- Light
- Day
- NTSB number
- LAX98LA126
People
Nobody was injured.
| On board | Died | Serious | Minor | Uninjured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Probable cause
The pilot's improper in-flight planning, misjudged terrain clearance, and failure to attain adequate altitude before attempting to traverse the mountain pass. Contributing factors were the high density altitude and the rising, mountainous terrain.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.
Read the full NTSB narrative
The pilot intended to fly his homebuilt airplane, with its 65 horsepower engine, in a westward direction over the Sierra Nevada Mountains. After departure from the 3,680-foot mean sea level (msl) Lone Pine Airport, the pilot circled the area to gain altitude. Eventually the pilot located a mountain pass and proceeded in a westerly direction toward his home in Tracy, California. The elevation of the underlying terrain began increasing faster than the airplane was climbing, so the pilot made a forced landing on the snow-covered mountainside. The accident site elevation is about 10,500 feet msl and is about 8 miles southeast of Mt. Whitney. In the pilot's completed report, he indicated that no mechanical malfunctions or failures were experienced during the accident flight in his experimental airplane.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.
Other accidents in this area
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Oct 1998 | Cessna 152 | Avalon, California, United States | Orange County Flight Center | Fatal | 1 |
| 5 Oct 1998 | Grumman TS-2A | Banning, California, United States | - | Fatal | 1 |
| 15 Aug 1998 | North American NAVION | Salinas, California, United States | - | Fatal | 2 |
| 21 Aug 1998 | Bell 206B | Salinas, California, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 21 Aug 1998 | Robinson R22B | Ramona, California, United States | Civic Helicopters | No injuries | - |
| 27 Aug 1998 | Aerospatiale SA316B | Porterville, California, United States | U.s. Dept. of the Interior | No injuries | - |