North American T28C N537Z

Summary

On 24 May 2003 at about 19:25 local time, a North American T28C registered N537Z was involved in an accident near Sherman Oaks, California, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

24 May 2003 at 19:25

Classification

Accident

Location

Sherman Oaks, California, United States

Nearest airport

Van Nuys (VNY)

Coordinates

34.1417, -118.4325

Aircraft

North American T28C

Registration

N537Z

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Van Nuys → Thermal

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX03FA162

2 people died.

The pilot's in-flight loss of control due to spatial disorientation. Factors in the accident were the distraction caused by the malfunctioning mode C altitude reporting system, and the location of the transponder control head, which necessitated repeated pilot head movements to the right and down while in instrument meteorological conditions.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

On a standard instrument departure procedure, the airplane came out of the clouds in a steep, nose down, inverted attitude and collided with terrain. The weather at the departure airport was 1,700-foot overcast with the tops ranging from about 4,000 to 4,500 feet. The mode C altitude reporting system on board the airplane initially was reporting 1,400 msl, but the pilot reported climbing out of 2,300 msl. Air traffic control made numerous queries about the altitude anomalies and repeatedly asked the pilot to recycle the transponder. In this aircraft, the transponder control head was mounted on the lower right side avionics rail abeam the pilot's seat back. The pilot would have to look down, to the right, and aft to alter any settings on the transponder during flight. The airplane was climbing on a southeasterly course. After a minute ATC issued a left turn to 040 degrees. The pilot acknowledged the course change, but the recorded radar track continued in a southeasterly direction until its last recorded point. Twenty-three seconds after the pilot acknowledged the course change and reported leaving 3,000 feet, he asked ATC if it was a left or right turn to 040. ATC instructed the pilot to turn off the transponder's mode C function. There were no further recorded transmissions from the pilot. The last recorded mode C data occurred 17 seconds after the pilot's last transmission. The mode C altitude reports from the airplane varied from 1,300 feet to a high of 4,100 feet, and erratically fluctuated between those values. The airplane came out of the clouds in a steep, nose down, inverted position, and heading in a northeasterly direction. The wreckage was located north of the last recorded radar position.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.