Piper PA-28-181 N2954P

Summary

On 1 March 2005 at about 03:05 local time, a Piper PA-28-181 registered N2954P was involved in an accident near Yucaipa, California, United States. 3 people were on board and 3 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

1 March 2005 at 03:05

Classification

Accident

Location

Yucaipa, California, United States

Coordinates

34.0375, -116.9875

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-181

Registration

N2954P

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Redlands → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

LAX05FA106

3 people died.

The failure of the private pilot and the flight instructor to maintain adequate terrain clearance while flying in unfamiliar mountainous terrain in dark night conditions.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane impacted mountainous terrain in a box canyon during a local area instructional night flight approximately 1 hour after nautical twilight ended. The operator reported that the purpose of the flight was for the private pilot, who obtained his certificate 1 month ago, to obtain night Visual Flight Rules (VFR) experience with an instructor on board. The flight was scheduled to fly in the local area and to make night landings at several local airports. Friends of the pilot reported they heard the airplane fly over the private pilot's residence about 1900. The witness said he could see the strobe lights of the airplane, but could not see the airplane registration number due to the low clouds that were in the area. The wreckage site was on a slope in a box canyon, about 100 feet below the ridgeline top, at an elevation of 4,168 feet mean sea level. The private pilot had a total logged flight time of 95 hours, with 3.5 hours of dual instruction received during night conditions. The certified flight instructor had a total logged flight time of 435 hours, with 22 flight hours logged during night conditions. He logged 23 hours in the local area, 2.8 of which were under night conditions. No mechanical abnormalities were found with the airplane or engine during the investigation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.