Piper AEROSTAR 601P N3636M

Summary

On 31 January 2002 at about 02:54 local time, a Piper AEROSTAR 601P registered N3636M, operated by John Michael Turner, was involved in an accident near Stonyford, 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

31 January 2002 at 02:54

Classification

Accident

Location

Stonyford, California, United States

Coordinates

39.4364, -122.6956

Aircraft

Piper AEROSTAR 601P

Registration

N3636M

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

John Michael Turner

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Business

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Chico → Ukiah

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

LAX02FA073

1 person died.

the pilot's failure to maintain terrain clearance during cruise flight, which resulted in the in-flight collision with mountainous terrain. Factors in the accident were the mountainous terrain and the dark night light conditions.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The twin engine airplane impacted mountainous terrain at the 6,700-foot level during moonless night flight operations. The instrument rated pilot radioed the Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) and requested flight following and a vector to the destination airport. The pilot indicated he was flying at 6,700 feet and was descending. The controller radar identified the airplane and issued the recommended heading. The pilot asked for additional distance and airspeed information, which was provided by the controller, and no further radio contact with the pilot was attained. The airplane impacted a mountain approximately 50 feet below its crest in the approximate direction of the radar ground track. A post accident examination of the airplane and engines revealed no anomalies that would have prevented its normal operations. Interviews with the air traffic controllers, who were providing the accident airplane's flight following information, indicated they did not think the airplane was in imminent danger of impacting terrain; therefore, they did not issue a low altitude alert. Controllers are required to immediately issue an alert to an airplane if they are aware the airplane is at an altitude, which in the controllers judgment, places it in unsafe proximity to terrain/obstructions. The controllers reported they have worked numerous airplanes in that area at similar altitudes as the accident airplane and did not think the accident airplane was any different. The controllers added that they did not have terrain information overlaid on their video map for the accident area. The responsibility to maintain terrain clearance during visual meteorological conditions rests with the pilot. The accident area sectional chart depicts a maximum elevation figure (MEF) for the accident site quadrant as 7,400 feet.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.