Cessna 172G N3690L

Summary

On 3 January 2000 at about 02:00 local time, a Cessna 172G registered N3690L, operated by Riverside Air Service, was involved in an accident near Victorville, 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.

Date

3 January 2000 at 02:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Victorville, California, United States

Coordinates

34.4893, -117.3598

Aircraft

Cessna 172G

Registration

N3690L

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Riverside Air Service

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Bullhead City → Riverside

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

LAX00LA063

Nobody was injured.

The failure of the pilot to maintain positional awareness, which resulted in his becoming lost and disoriented. Contributing factors were the pilot's delay requesting assistance from air traffic control and the failure of the airplane's electrical generator.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that, 2 hours 15 minutes after takeoff, the airplane's electrical generator failed and the airplane subsequently experienced electrical power failure. He said the engine then began to run rough. The recently licensed private pilot was not certain of his position and he made a precautionary landing at dusk on a county road. As the airplane touched down, the left wing struck a street sign which deflected the airplane across the highway median and across the (opposite direction) traffic lanes. The accident occurred 2 hours 45 minutes after takeoff. The airway distance from the departure airport to the intended destination was 167 nautical miles, and the distance to the accident location was approximately 142 nautical miles. Subsequent examination and a test run of the engine revealed no reason for the reported roughness.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.